What Harvey will fight for

Wasaga Beach has to become more than a successful summer destination. I want us to build a four-season economy around what we already have: the beach, trails, recreation, arts, restaurants and local businesses.

I would support incentives and partnerships that encourage fall and winter events, winterized commercial spaces, expanded trail and recreation programming, and coordinated marketing of Wasaga as a year-round destination. I would also like to see more events spread throughout town rather than concentrating everything in one area.

The measure of success should be simple: more businesses open twelve months of the year, more local jobs and more visitor spending between October and April.

I support redevelopment, but I don’t want the new beachfront to become a collection of businesses that could be found in any city in Canada.

Local entrepreneurs should have a genuine opportunity to participate. I would push for smaller commercial units, locally accessible leasing opportunities and discussions with developers about giving local businesses an opportunity before filling the development entirely with national chains.

Development should complement the existing Wasaga business community—not replace it.

Every dollar we collect from a business ultimately comes from customers, employees or the owner’s pocket.

I would support a comprehensive review of commercial permit fees, licensing costs, development charges under municipal control and the commercial tax burden. I wouldn’t promise an arbitrary tax cut before seeing the numbers, but I would ask a basic question about every fee:

Does this fee reasonably recover a municipal cost, or has it simply become another obstacle to doing business?

Businesses need certainty almost as much as they need lower costs.

I would push for published approval timelines, one municipal contact for significant commercial applications, early meetings between applicants and Town departments, clearer checklists and better online tracking so an applicant knows exactly where their project stands.

Straightforward applications shouldn’t spend months circulating between departments.

My principle would be: fast decisions, clear rules and no lowering of safety or environmental standards.

This goes directly to my principle of infrastructure before structure.

Before approving significant density, Council has to understand how residents, tourists and employees are going to get there, where they will park, how emergency vehicles will move and how neighbouring businesses will be affected.

I support pedestrian connections, cycling, practical transit and appropriate parking. We shouldn’t eliminate automobile access before realistic alternatives exist.

A beautiful commercial district doesn’t work if customers can’t conveniently reach it.

I support modernizing Wasaga’s wayfinding system.

Someone arriving in town should easily be able to find Beach Areas 1 through 6, local shopping districts, restaurants, trails, parking and community attractions.

I would also review signage regulations to make sure businesses located away from Mosley Street or the beachfront aren’t effectively invisible.

Good signage can promote businesses while still maintaining an attractive streetscape.

I want business owners involved before major economic-development decisions are made, not brought in after everything has been decided.

I would support regular working sessions involving Council, Town economic-development staff, the Chamber, tourism representatives and independent businesses.

And I would make a point of speaking directly with owners. I have spent much of my working life in sales, marketing and business. Sometimes the most useful information comes from standing in somebody’s shop and asking, What’s preventing you from succeeding?

Yes—with an important qualification.

I support a local-first opportunity, provided it complies with Ontario procurement law and trade obligations and still protects taxpayers through competitive pricing and transparent bidding.

Where legally possible, procurement criteria could recognize local economic benefit, apprenticeships, service availability and community contribution rather than simply taking the lowest number on a page.

Tax dollars should create as much local economic activity as reasonably possible.

I won’t give developers a blank cheque on height or density.

My test would be whether the proposal fits the long-term character of Wasaga Beach, whether infrastructure can support it, whether public access to the waterfront is protected and whether the development provides a genuine public benefit.

I would vote against a proposal if infrastructure couldn’t reasonably support it, if environmentally sensitive areas were unnecessarily compromised, if public waterfront access was diminished, or if the financial risk to taxpayers outweighed the community benefit.

I don’t believe Council should determine density by asking, How much can we possibly fit there?

We should ask, What belongs there?

The Town has a legitimate responsibility for public infrastructure—roads, utilities, public spaces and infrastructure that serves the broader community.

But taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing the profitability of a private development.

Where infrastructure primarily benefits a private project, I expect the developer to pay an appropriate share.

My starting principle would be:

Public dollars for public benefit. Private development costs for private development.

There are advantages to both systems.

A ward system creates identifiable local representation. An at-large system requires every councillor to answer to the entire municipality.

Whatever system residents ultimately choose, I don’t want councillors thinking exclusively about East End, West End or Beach Area residents.

Every councillor takes an oath to serve Wasaga Beach as a whole.

If a ward system is adopted, I would still expect Council to make decisions based on what’s best for the entire town rather than five or six competing territories.

Disagreement is healthy. Dysfunction isn’t.

If another councillor strongly disagrees with me, I will argue my position, listen to theirs, ask questions and vote.

After the vote, Council gets back to work.

I won’t support personal attacks, grudges or using procedural tactics simply to prevent the majority from conducting Town business.

You can disagree with someone on Monday and work with them on another issue Tuesday.

That’s what adults elected to public office are supposed to do.

I would like annual increases kept as close to inflation as responsibly possible, but I won’t promise an artificial number and then quietly cut services residents depend upon.

Instead, every budget should distinguish among necessities, improvements and wants.

Roads, water, wastewater, emergency services and maintenance come first.

I’d also insist that the Town examine operating costs created by major capital projects before approving them. Building something is only part of the cost. Taxpayers maintain it for decades.

If we faced a serious budget shortfall, my first target wouldn’t be fire protection, road maintenance or essential infrastructure.

I would first review discretionary capital projects that haven’t begun, non-essential beautification projects, consulting expenditures that can reasonably be performed internally, and projects that are desirable but can safely be delayed.

My priority would be protecting services residents rely upon every day.

Tourism will always be important, but Wasaga needs jobs that aren’t dependent upon sunshine.

I would pursue employers and entrepreneurs in professional services, technology, skilled trades, health services, remote-work industries, light clean industry and other businesses compatible with the community.

We also need the infrastructure those employers look for: broadband, transportation, commercial space and a municipal approvals process that doesn’t discourage investment.

A measurable goal should be increasing the percentage of local employment that exists 52 weeks a year.

Residents shouldn’t have to surrender their neighbourhood every summer.

Large events should include traffic plans, waste management, policing or security requirements and post-event cleanup responsibilities.

I support tourism, but there is a major difference between attracting visitors and tolerating behaviour that disrupts residential neighbourhoods.

We can be welcoming without being permissive.

Higher density belongs where the infrastructure can support it—particularly near major roads, services, commercial areas and transit opportunities.

I would be much more cautious about inserting large buildings deep inside established low-density neighbourhoods without adequate transitions.

Density doesn’t have to mean bad development. Appropriate setbacks, landscaping, stepped building heights and good architecture can allow different housing types to coexist.

Again, infrastructure before structure.

Wasaga doesn’t run the provincial healthcare system, so I wouldn’t pretend Council can solve healthcare by itself.

But municipalities can help recruit practitioners.

I would support investigating a physician-recruitment program in cooperation with healthcare organizations and neighbouring municipalities, potentially involving relocation assistance, assistance finding clinic space and other incentives where there’s evidence they work.

Any program should include measurable commitments to actually practice in the community for a defined period.

If I’m forced to choose between an irreplaceable natural asset and a commercial convenience, the natural asset wins.

The beach, dunes, river and bay aren’t obstacles to Wasaga’s economy. They’re the reason much of our economy exists.

That doesn’t mean development stops. It means development has to work around environmentally sensitive areas rather than assuming those areas should move out of the developer’s way.

Economic development and environmental protection can coexist—but some places simply shouldn’t be built upon.

My priority would be water, drainage and the infrastructure beneath our growth corridors before adding development that increases pressure on those systems.

High water tables and drainage problems can’t be solved after thousands of additional homes have been built.

I would want the Town’s capital plan to identify the most vulnerable sections of stormwater, drainage, water and road infrastructure and rank them according to risk—not political attractiveness.

Mosley Street and River Road capacity are important, but simply widening roads isn’t a complete transportation strategy.

The guiding principle for my first term would be the same one I’ve been talking about throughout this campaign:

Infrastructure before structure.