Managing growth responsibly
Supporting development that is carefully planned and long-term rather than reactive — protecting our lakes and quality of life while the township grows.
2026 Municipal Election · Township of Muskoka Lakes
Experience matters
So does the independence to act on it.
Guy Burry brings decades of professional judgement and community experience to the decisions shaping Muskoka. Good local government takes experience, careful thinking, and the willingness to ask difficult questions.
Priorities
What comes next
Protecting water quality
Advancing environmental protection measures, including updates to the Site Alteration, Tree Preservation and Septic Inspection by-laws, to safeguard water quality across the watershed.
Cost-conscious services
Emphasizing cost-conscious delivery of municipal and District services, so the Township receives value that reflects what residents contribute.
Attainable housing
Addressing the region’s shortage of attainable housing by working with other levels of government on practical, fundable approaches.
Sorting out roads
Both the Township and the District have a hand in roads. There are too many people doing the same thing with the same money. Guy wants responsibility sorted out so the dollars go into the road, not the overlap.
Record
What I've done as a District and Township Councillor
It has meant making difficult decisions.
- Championed fiscal accountability, ensuring the Township receives value that more closely reflects our financial contribution to the District.
- Initiated the founding of a municipal services corporation to manage and operate the airport, with a goal of eliminating the annual $2,000,000 subsidy.
- Advocated for rationalizing roads and planning services.
From the council minutes:
Pushed to change how the Muskoka Airport is run
The airport runs on taxpayer support. Guy asked staff to report on running it through its own municipal corporation, the way a business is run, before Council went looking for outside operators. Two years later it happened: Council approved the plan, and Muskoka Airport Inc. took over operations on July 1, 2025.
District Finance & Corporate Services minutes, res. R31/2023-FCS →
Made Council do the math on the long-term garbage plan
Before Council set how much to spend on its long-term garbage and recycling plan, Guy had the decision sent to the works and finance committees together, so the engineering and the money were weighed side by side.
Tried to trim the District budget
Guy proposed cutting two new staff positions from the District’s 2025–2026 budget, worth about $230,000 over two years. The majority of Council saw it differently and the motions did not carry. Both are in the public record.
Experience
Forty years on the questions a council votes on.
Township of Muskoka Lakes & District Municipality of Muskoka
Acclaimed in 2022. Serving at both the Township and District tables, on the land use, budget and infrastructure decisions that shape Ward C.
Federation of Canadian Municipalities — Green Municipal Fund
A decade with the national fund that helps towns and cities pay for environmental projects. He chaired its Investment Committee for six years and served six years on its council.
York University Pension Fund
More than twenty years chairing the committee that oversees how York University’s pension fund is invested — other people’s retirement money, managed with the care public money deserves.
The Atmospheric Fund
Twelve years helping Toronto’s climate agency change how it invested its money, as Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of its Investment Committee.
Investment and governance career
Chief Information Officer at SEI Financial; Director and Partner at Connor, Clark & Lunn Private Capital.
Independent judgement
Experience should inform your judgement — not replace it.
Guy believes councillors have a responsibility to understand the evidence, listen carefully and make their own decisions. That sometimes means questioning established approaches, or being willing to take a different position when the facts support it.
About Guy
In Muskoka since 1987. Full-time since 2019.
Guy and his spouse, Liz Lundell, have enjoyed all seasons at their home on Lake Joseph, and Guy has been a full-time Muskoka resident since 2019. His community roles include Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (Vice Chair), the Muskoka Lakes Museum (Director and Treasurer), the Muskoka Parry Sound Community Foundation (Director and Treasurer), the Muskoka Lakes Association’s Water Quality Monitoring program, and local minor hockey trainer.
His working life spans more than forty years in finance and investment, information technology, human capital, governance and the environmental sector, including Toronto’s Atmospheric Fund and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund. He is an avid golfer, paddler and Toronto Maple Leafs fan.
Why I'm running again
Given the competing interests in Muskoka now, I want to keep the work already underway moving forward. This isn’t the right time to change direction. Shoreline and water quality protection; updating zoning rules; and rationalizing roads to manage municipal tax rate increases are my priorities. I have built a reputation for responding to my constituents to help sort out a complex two-tiered system that I believe needs to be streamlined.
Please allow me to finish the job!
— Guy Burry
Voting
2026 Municipal Election
- Voting opens
- Wednesday, October 14 at 10:00 a.m.
- Voting closes
- Monday, October 26 at 8:00 p.m.
- How
- By internet and telephone. In-person help and a voting computer are available at the Township Municipal Office, 1 Bailey St., Port Carling, throughout the voting period.
- Who can vote
- You can vote if you are a Canadian citizen, 18 or older, and you either live in Muskoka Lakes, own or rent land in Muskoka Lakes, or are the spouse of someone who does.
Don't miss it — get one reminder.
Voting is by internet and telephone from October 14 to 26. Leave your email and we'll send one reminder when it opens, wherever you are that week.
Contact
Have a question or a different point of view?
Guy wants to hear from you. Write to the campaign and someone will get back to you.
Prefer to pitch in? Volunteer with the campaign.
