Priorities
Engaging in meaningful and constructive dialogue is the foundation of public service.
As your Councillor, I will actively listen to residents and learn from what I hear to target our top priorities. However, it's not enough to identify those issues. It's about pursuing effective solutions to achieve desired outcomes.
The municipality is not responsible for every community or individual concern.
Having said that, while Bluewater cannot directly control or decide certain matters, it can find ways to strategically shape and influence them - including with Huron County and the Province. Council must take the lead. That can mean exploring new and creative paths to communicate with decision-makers. Or it simply requires a face-to-face meeting.
As your Councillor, while I will use my voice to amplify and advocate for what impacts us all, your voice matters most. I need to hear from you. Let's connect and discuss....
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shoreline and bluff erosion.
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water quality, wastewater services, environmental protection.
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property taxes, affordability, financial sustainability, depletion of reserve funds.
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updated 2026 Official Plan, status of 2024-2027 Corporate Strategic Plan.
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infrastructure for current and future needs.
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heritage protection.
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local/regional economy (including role of agritourism) and healthcare.
Visit this Priorities page for updates, as I build a platform that reflects my community conversations and meetings (including with members of local residents' associations).
What matters most to you in Bluewater?
Open, Proven Leadership
I rely on hard facts and solid research to make informed decisions. I promise to be approachable, accountable and dialogue regularly to keep you in the loop.
Fiscal Responsibility
As your Councillor, I will focus heavily on the municipality spending money wisely to keep our community a safe, prosperous and beautiful place for a very long time.
Community Engagement
I will strive to improve communications by the municipality with all residents so that everyone is better informed, with
more ways and opportunities to be heard.
UPDATES
Q&A with Bluewater - Part 1
COMMUNITY LEADER • GOVERNANCE EXPERTISE • WARD RESIDENT • BUSINESS FOUNDER & OWNER • CORPORATE LAWYER • VOTE HEAGLE •
On June 20, 2026, I submitted requests and questions to Bluewater staff about Hay West, covering the following matters:
1) three most common topics raised by Ward residents.
2) assumed and unassumed roads.
3) grading, ditching and maintenance for assumed roads.
4) Bluewater’s Short-Term Rental Licensing By-law.
5) risks that failing septic systems in the Ward may pose to groundwater and Lake Huron water quality.
6) feasibility of bringing municipal water to properties not yet connected.
7) specific management policies which apply to properties along the shoreline to prevent erosion and manage bluff stability.
8) actions implemented and/or plans made by Bluewater arising directly from the 2023 Recreation Master Plan.
My main objective is to benefit from Bluewater staff's perspective, when speaking with Hay West residents.
On July 3, 2026, I received a comprehensive response from Bluewater staff to all requests and questions. That information will be provided on this Priorities page, beginning with the first exchange....
Heagle:
1) Please list what you consider to be the three most common topics raised by Ward residents with Bluewater since the 2022 municipal election (i.e. inquiries, requests, complaints or delegations). I am only asking about general issues or concerns.
Bluewater staff:
Trees
– both removal and retention.
Drainage
– properties do not want to take water from other properties. Have discussed with individuals, the opportunity to explore applying the Drainage Act. Municipal roadside ditch network not intended to accept “private” water.
Beach access
- questions/concerns/complaints.
More Q&A with Bluewater to follow on the desktop version of this website....
What's in a name?
Bluewater has an identity crisis. That is what I am hearing from residents - and I agree.
Strong municipal branding clarifies who we are, tells our shared story, and fosters local pride and engagement across all our communities. An official slogan can offer a compelling value proposition to help bring attention, visitors and dollars. Bluewater has only a “performance brand statement” embedded in Council’s 2024–2027 Corporate Strategic Plan: One Bluewater. Ironically, actual branding of the municipality is divided.
The costs and efforts to accomplish these vital goals should not be prohibitive.
Since its amalgamation on January 1, 2001, Bluewater still hasn't fully realized and embraced its collective identity. 25 years! Residents often tell me they need to mention Bayfield - perhaps Hensall or even Grand Bend - simply to help others place Bluewater on the map.
Time to change that conversation. Small details matter. Local road signs are a prime example.
Here are a few photos to help illustrate that current road signage can be confusing, inconsistent, misdirecting. The name "Bluewater" is either completely missing or printed too small to read at driving speeds. Bayfield, Hensall and Zurich are also no longer individual villages.
Why make it so difficult to know where you are? Where does Bluewater begin and end?
Our postal system also serves to dilute Bluewater’s identity. Canada Post is the culprit, using historical names of sorting hubs for current addresses.
Bluewater was created by the amalgamation of three villages (Bayfield, Hensall and Zurich) and two townships (Hay and Stanley). An enhanced and cohesive identity for Bluewater can protect that heritage, while strengthening and growing our culture as one community.
Consider this current sign. The AI image reflects one way to better promote Bluewater using the existing design and colours from other signs. It also proudly and accurately honours our history (Bluewater has authority to put “historic” on community entrance, gateway or welcome signs).
As your Councillor, I will champion a more connected and united municipality. Let's work together to build bridges that connect us all - including to tie our heritage to our future.
Of course, leadership isn't just about high-level concepts and how things look. It is about making mindful, affordable and substantive decisions. Today's economic uncertainty and financial pressures mean Council must read those critical signs to proactively navigate a decisive path for all of Bluewater.
Wildly important, or not?
I have been asked by many Hay Ward residents about the size of Bluewater Council.
In particular, they wonder if nine members and the current ward boundaries are appropriate.
On December 18, 2023, Bluewater Council adopted its 2024-2027 Corporate Strategic Plan. Its focus and concentration is on a small number of "must succeed" priorities. To that end, the following 9 Wildly Important Goals (or WIGs) were chosen with corresponding timelines in three clusters:
Fundamentals
#1 – “One Bluewater” Asset Management Plan (approval by mid-2025).
#2 – Multi-Year Roads Sustainability Plan (create during 2025 and implement in 2026).
#3 - User Pay Cost Recovery (user fees and property tax base relief, beginning in 2027).
Modernized Service Delivery
#4 - Annual Budget Transformed by Results Targets and Reporting (last quarter pilot 2025).
#5 - “State of the Infrastructure” Annual Report (initial report by end of Council term 2026).
#6 - Fire Master Plan & Station Location Review (execute in 2024 for AMP by mid-2025).
#7 - Council Composition / Ward Boundary Review (initiate mid-2024, complete early 2025).
#8 - Initiate Formal Shared Services Program (select/begin pilot before end of Council term 2026).
Growth & Development
#9 - Growth-Focused Development Strategy (complete mid-2025).
On January 10, 2024, Council brought three motions in support of WIG #7 to move it forward (underlined above). All motions were defeated. Less than one month after Council committed to WIG #7 - it was gone. Click here to review the entire plan, including Appendix A about the motions.
Do you believe Council should have proceeded to review the number on Bluewater Council? Do we have too many members? What about the current ward boundaries shown on my Hay West - Map page? Do you believe there should be changes?
Let me know your thoughts and ideas!
Q&A with Bluewater - Part 2
As noted in Part 1 above, I received a comprehensive response from Bluewater staff on July 3, 2026 to my requests and questions about Hay West.
Here is the next set of exchanges (items 2 and 3), which addresses some of the main concerns raised by residents about our roads....
Heagle:
2) Please list or map all the assumed and unassumed roads in the Ward. Have any petitions currently been submitted by neighbourhood associations or residents in the Ward for Bluewater to assume any unassumed roads? Please identify those roads and the status of each petition submitted. To your knowledge, are any petitions in progress but not submitted? Please also identify those roads.
Bluewater staff:
See attached Lakeshore Roads List. Assumption Bachand and Gendron is currently underway through the same petition. The Poplar Beach neighbourhood has inquired about assumption in in 2025 but the Municipality has not been provided with a petition for assumption at this time.
Heagle:
3) Please briefly summarize any current requests and complaints made by residents with respect to grading, ditching and maintenance for assumed roads in the Ward. What current work is underway or planned by Bluewater to address those matters (if any)?
Bluewater Staff:
Stump removal on Demers Street - to be removed in the future as part of coordinated stump removal through out the Municipality. Drainage concerns on Duchess Street. Coordination with property owner to meet on site for review has yet to be achieved. Will continue to follow up.
As Hay West Councillor, I’ve pledged to improve communications with residents.
Whether face-to-face or digital, I want to make sure people are informed, heard, and part of a genuine dialogue….
IN PERSON: door-knocking, drop-in sessions, community events, leadership roundtables.
ONLINE: virtual meetings, e-newsletters, digital surveys.
One of the top priorities that I'm discussing with you? Council asking the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) for a pilot project along Highway 21 by our Ward as highlighted below - reducing the speed limit from 80 km/h to 60 km/h.
Traffic flow concerns and safety risks are significant. Those issues only increase with new residential developments planned nearby.
Do you realize this roughly 3-kilometre stretch includes: 12 roads (including for Hay West neighbourhoods); 8 business establishments (including White Squirrel Golf Club and Hessenland Inn); 2 municipal beaches and 1 park (Hay Township Beach, St. Joseph Beach, St. Joseph Memorial Park)?
And how often do you get stuck at Zurich-Hensall Road anxiously waiting to make a left turn onto Highway 21 - while trying to judge speeds and distances of fast-moving trucks and vehicles going both ways - so you can safely cross that busy intersection (especially during peak tourism seasons)?
Watch for brief posts and videos about this important topic and others on my Facebook page. Stay tuned!
More to follow....
All updates will be posted on the desktop version of this Priorities page.
Your Ward, Your Voice
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