Two Haliburton County cottagers, who live in the United States, say they’re relieved Joe Biden is set to be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20 next year.

Like many Americans with ties to Haliburton County, Scott Shriver and Christine Jurusik were stressed and waiting anxiously as the Nov. 3 vote results stretched until Nov. 7 before a winner was declared.

“I had been scared to death of the possibility of four more years like the last four,” Shriver said. “Even one year of continuing to do nothing to contain COVID-19 was frightening to contemplate.”

US president Donald Trump has been criticized for not doing enough to fight the pandemic while President-elect Biden’s transition team has already announced a COVID-19 task force.

Jurusik said, “the democratic process took its time providing us with a new president as it was a very close race in many states.” She added she was impressed with the high voter turnout.

Shriver said while Biden wasn’t his first Democratic choice, he supported him over Trump. Jurusik is a Biden supporter but knows many people who supported Trump and said she can understand their position.

“I think his intentions were good at first and he initially wanted to do, what he thought, was best for the country. Many people believed that he did a good job,” she said.

However, as a U.S. immigration lawyer and an immigrant to the U.S., she has a different opinion since she sees first hand how some of Trump’s policies and executive orders “destroyed the lives and opportunities of good people. Hopefully, we will see a reversal of those policies before long.”

Shriver said he’s saddened the outcome “was not more of a total repudiation of the current presidency.”

The Associated Press said Trump has garnered 47.5 per cent of the vote as of press time.

Both Shriver and Jurusik said the sad legacy is a country divided.

“Trying to discuss issues such as racism, anti-feminism, anti-science, the value of truth, etc. is almost impossible when many people don’t think those kinds of issues matter,” Shriver said.

Even more disturbing is “we’ve lost our ability to solve problems through open debate and compromise. The debate is shut down in the halls of Congress before it begins and compromise is seen as weakness,” Shriver added.

Jurusik conceded, “the divisions are there, just like they are in Canada. The Liberal-Conservative dichotomy is not just a U.S. construct. We should not kid ourselves that we as Canadians are immune. “I see many of my Canadian friends and family criticizing the U.S. for how divided we are and yet these are some of the same people that hold strong political opinions either for or against the current Canadian leaders and express them frequently on social media.”

Ultimately, Jurusik thinks Biden will be more invested in improving the relationship between Canada and the U.S. than the Trump administration was. “That is a good thing. My sense is that he is a much more diplomatic leader who will be interested in uniting people and not dividing them.”

A 23-year-old Mississauga man drowned Nov. 7 in Haliburton County.

OPP say that on Saturday, at approximately 4:55 p.m., they, along with the Minden Hills Fire Department and Haliburton County Paramedic Services responded to reports of a drowning on Kashagawigamog Lake in the Township of Minden Hills.

They said Nov. 9 that Mohamed Amar Mukthar failed to resurface from the water while swimming.

They said the deceased was located by the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit. A post mortem examination is scheduled to take place at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto.

News the Frost Centre is again up for sale didn’t come as a surprise to a former employee or the mayor of the township in which it resides.

However, both Barrie Martin and Carol Moffatt have a keen interest in what might eventually happen at the former Leslie M. Frost Natural Resource Centre in Dorset.

Martin worked there for 24 years and Moffatt, before she became mayor, fought hard to keep the centre open. Since then, as mayor of Algonquin Highlands, she’s watched the Frost Centre story unfold.

A ‘for sale’ sign went up Oct. 29. Infrastructure Ontario, the Crown agency that manages provincially-owned infrastructure and real estate, has enlisted CBRE Limited Real Estate Brokerage, which is offering the 40.63 acres of waterfront land, with 21 buildings, full kitchen, dining hall and recreation centre, for $1.1 million.

Martin told The Highlander the centre’s closing in 2004 was a tragedy and “hopefully it’ll be acquired to serve the broader good, but who knowns who’ll buy it and when they’ll buy it.”

Since the listing went up last week, Martin said it’s created a social media buzz. He said he’s even been approached by a couple of people about taking a leadership role in purchasing and developing the property but he is not interested at this point. However, he said he was happy to lend support.

Martin was on the Friends of the Frost Centre that had some ambitious plans, such as a leadership camp. He added that with the trails, some heritage designations and easements, he hopes whoever buys it sees that as an opportunity rather than a limiting factor.

Asked about his vision for the property in 2020, Martin said it would involve a lot of partners coming together, both local and other.

“And they would build a facility that would serve to educate people about natural resources and ecology and climate change – all of those things we’re all worried about.”

He added, “really people coming together in this current climate and dreaming and thinking about what could be and then making it happen with some good leadership and investment.”

Moffatt said for her it’s about honouring the history.

“We need to preserve this piece of our local story. It’s my hope that the heritage of the Frost Centre and its importance in the community is woven into whatever becomes of the property,” she told The Highlander.

She said the township wasn’t surprised by the sale, but it “ushers in the final blow to what Leslie M. Frost himself said about the new school in 1944, ‘this school may well be the forerunner of other such establishments in Ontario’.”

Moffatt said the township toured the facility in August 2013 when the province was making it surplus. She said there had always been hopes about Algonquin Highlands centralizing the Stanhope and Dorset operations into one place and perhaps developing an accommodation-based recreational program to go with the trails system. “There were lots of ideas.”

However, she said the condition of the facility was “disheartening.” The township realized the size of the property and the amount of work needed made it too expensive. However, they secured their trails system and had the area where the trails office is severed with a long-term lease.

Moffatt said the Frost Centre was a fixture of the community and an incredible link to community, education and natural resources.

“Its history is deeply entrenched in our local heritage,” she said, adding, “a lot of amazing people worked there and a lot of amazing work was done there. Many who worked there still have very strong feelings about their time there and how the closure was handled.”

Moffatt said she’s been in the centre since it closed and, “each time we wandered the barren halls and stood in the empty classrooms, there was a tangible sadness; you could feel the memories.”

Minister of Infrastructure and local MPP Laurie Scott said, “its time has come.” She added she is optimistic that there is now an opportunity for the centre to be something different while respecting its heritage. “There’s lots of good news that could come from it. Let’s get moving forward with an opportunity for economic development.

By Lisa Gervais

A Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) board member said it is “absolutely ridiculous” Dysart et al is asking for rent for the parking lot where the COVID-19 assessment centre trailer is stationed.

However, Mayor Andrea Roberts said the municipality is simply trying to have a formal agreement in place and to recover costs during the pandemic.

The issue was raised at the Oct. 29 HHHS board meeting, where they discussed the trailer located outside the family medical centre in Haliburton.

CAO Carolyn Plummer said one of the upcoming expenses is rent and Hydro to the township.

“That’s going to be adding to our ongoing operating costs at a time when we’re really not even certain whether we’re going to be able to get sufficient funding from the province to cover those (costs)…” Plummer said.

Board member Irene Odell said it was disappointing.

“I’m kind of surprised because this is a service to our community,” she said.

Board member David O’Brien agreed. He said he could understand paying Hydro costs, but not rent.

“We are fighting COVID as a community and we’re doing it as a whole community and we’re doing it together as a community and, really, to think you should have to charge us to do this service for our community, absolutely ridiculous in my mind,” he said.

Odell asked where people would have to go if HHHS had to close the assessment centre if it became unaffordable in Haliburton. Plummer said Lindsay, Peterborough, Bracebridge or Bancroft.

“It’s quite a travel for folks, especially coming into the winter months,” she said.

She added they had also previously discussed a possible relocation but preferred the current site since it is so close to the Haliburton Hospital and the medical centre.

Plummer said they had been in talks with Roberts and, “she’s certainly aware of the circumstances we’re facing right now.”

Some board members said they did not think the parking lot was very full during COVID due to virtual appointments and did not think Dysart was losing revenue.

Roberts told The Highlander Oct. 30 that she did not attend the HHHS board meeting so she’s not sure what was discussed.

However, “I can say we are working with them and the other groups involved with the assessment centre to have a lease agreement, and are hoping to have it finalized soon. To date it has been in the parking lot with no agreement. We need to have things clear and fair for Dysart. It has always been our intention to be a good partner as we are all trying to deal with Covid-19.”