What does 2024 hold for Muskoka? District chair shares his expectations

During 2023, residents witnessed the challenges Muskoka experienced — from dealing with a long-standing housing crisis to creating a new hospital.

But what can Muskoka residents expect in 2024?

According to the strategic plan that the District of Muskoka adopted in the summer of 2023,  there are four community priorities: housing, the environment and  climate change, the economy and workforce, and community health and  well-being.

However, according to district chair Jeff Lehman, there are two points of particular importance for 2024.

“We  hope to move the needle on all our priorities in 2024, but housing and  climate change will probably be the top two,” said Lehman.

“Council decided in late 2023 that we need more aggressive plans on housing, and the Muskoka plan to combat climate change is coming in the next few months.”

He  added that the Fairvern long-term care home construction, major road  projects and creating more affordable child-care spaces in Muskoka would  also be essential.

Housing affordability, diversifying the  economy and climate change were the district’s most challenging points  in 2023, Lehman said. Although those are issues seen across Canada, they  might hit differently in Muskoka.

“The impact of inflation on  municipal projects and budgets was a tough challenge, and the housing  crisis continues to affect our staffing situation,” he said.

“The  need to rely on staffing agencies for health-care workers was one  example of the challenges affecting all health-care providers in Muskoka  and many parts of the province.”

Lehman added that finding health-care workers will continue to be a challenge in 2024, as will be building and maintaining infrastructure (especially water and wastewater systems) in the Canadian Shield.

However,  the main challenge for local municipal and district governments is  “trying to solve 21st-century problems with a 19th-century tool box,”  Lehman said.

“Our residents expect us to tackle the problems they  see around them and build stronger communities, but municipalities have  limited funds and limited powers to do so.”

The last meeting of the District of Muskoka council was Dec. 21, 2023. It will return on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

“In  2023, it was clear that in Muskoka, people work together very well with  minimal politics. … I am optimistic about the year to come,” said  Lehman.

For more information about the 2024 budget, click here.

Julian Orlando Chaves, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Huntsville Forester