ACM Designs’ Andria Cowan Molyneaux is in Paris, France this week for a show called Maison&Objet.

It’s no holiday. European and other international vendors have brought goods the Haliburton-based company could consider buying to help them combat the current trade war with the U.S.

In the spring, Cowan Molyneaux was in Scotland doing the same thing.

“Our business is completely impacted by tariffs because we import a lot of the goods that we sell,” she said.

“I’m going to Paris because I have to go. I have to find alternatives and there isn’t enough made in Canada that gives you a variety to choose from. It’s truly a business requirement for me to do this so we can look at our sourcing with a macro lens that is somewhat protected.”

Nor are they alone, Cowan Molyneaux said. “It’s naive to think a small town in rural Ontario would not be impacted by what is going on in international trade. It very much is.”

On Tuesday (Sept. 8), Canadian countertariffs, which range from 15 to 50 per cent, came as a tit-for-tat response to U.S. president Donald Trump’s latest 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods imposed last month.

Cowan Molyneaux, who is also president of the Decorators and Designers Association of Canada, said most of the companies ACM Designs purchase from are in the U.S. However, figuring out pricing isn’t as simple as knowing what products will be taxed and by how much. That is because the goods may have been designed in another country, and manufactured in another before being shipped to the U.S.

Stop ‘talking trash about the U.S.’

For example, if ACM Designs buys cabinet handles from the U.S. that have been made in India, they have to factor in the U.S. could be in a trade war with the Asian country. There could be additional fees or duties.

“Over the last two years, I’ve gotten a PhD in trade. We have to,” the business owner said. “It’s so difficult when you’re pricing. The amount of education required to protect yourself, your clients, is exponential.”

Another thing ACM Designs is doing to mitigate the impact is manufacturing some of its own stock. As for measures to assist businesses, Cowan Molyneaux said something similar to the CERB program rolled out during COVID would help.

Unease and unknowns

Brandi Hewson of WAI Products & Kohara + Co is also feeling the tariff pinch, and said the trade war is affecting all of us.

“People who are considering purchasing, or making a big renovation, or any of those things, are uneasy about spending money at the moment.”

She added that with tariffs and counter-tariffs, there is an element of the unknown.

For example, she said “someone comes in and buys a light fixture from us. We get it shipped. Then we get hit a month later with different fees, duties and tariffs because of this nonsense. It’s not like we can go back to the customer and say ‘you know that light fixture you bought? There was actually a 30 per cent tariff on it, so we need that money’.”

Hewson said they are trying to create protective buffers, such as making quotes only valid for seven days, or prewarning people they might be hit with additional fees. But, when dealing with 40 different lighting manufacturers, and trying to figure out who is getting hit with tariffs, and counter-tariffs, where components are made, and more, is a huge time-sucker.

The business is also exploring more made-in-Canada, and non-U.S. options. They would like to do their own manufacturing, but would need outside financial support.

They also do a lot of online sales that are being impacted, Hewson said. “In the last month, we’ve had three orders that were rejected because the customer was hit on the other end.

“It’s unease and unknown and trying to make sure we can be as informed as possible, but also trying to continue business as usual because the more time we spend trying to figure things out, the more our eye is off the ball; we need to make sales.”

Hewson added that even if a business feels it is not directly being hit, “they are putting price increases through. It’s almost an excuse to raise prices.”

Treat U.S. better

Heat-Line’s Lorne Heise said, “this round of tariffs are going to affect our sales in the United States far more than before.”

He said they have products for the RV-coach industry made in Algonquin Highlands, that “are going to get hit hard. The price of them is going to be unachievable in the U.S.”

He thinks Heat-Line will have to “get a foothold” south of the border, such as finding a U.S. company to manufacture for them; or creating their own operation. However, he said that is a big undertaking.

Heise said they use Ontario companies for parts, with those companies reliant on the automotive industry, and “now they are in jeopardy… that could be a really bigger concern looking forward.”

With 38 years’ experience in manufacturing, Heise believes Canadian businesses across the board are “in peril. The future is so uncertain. It’s hard to have a plan.”

Heise said he likes American people, “and without them on our border, Heat-Line would not even exist. They’re great to do business with. The idea that we are talking trash about the United States really bothers me.

“I don’t think people understand that you’re trying to do business with a neighbour… I don’t poke you and I don’t criticize you, I don’t say bad things about you, then walk in the door a year-and-a-half later and think I’m going to make a great deal with you. That’s not the way you do it.”

Heise said all Highlanders should care. He said Heat-Line employs 36 people, supporting 36 families, and provides international products. He added small businesses are crucial to the economy.

“It matters to everybody, big time.”

By Adam Frisk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Linda Coneybeare was working at her desk at Transat Travel on Highland Street 25 years ago, when an urgent bulletin popped up on her computer screen

Coneybeare was managing the Haliburton agency back then and immediately pulled up CNN. A second message from the head office popped up: North American airspace was shutting down completely, and every commercial plane was being ordered to land immediately.

“I started my career with British Airways,” Coneybeare said. “I always thought it was the most wonderful, glamorous job. All of a sudden, there were these beautiful jets being used as weapons. It really upset me.”

Coneybeare said she started going through client files to track down locals travelling. A Haliburton resident was on a flight returning home from Italy. With Toronto Pearson’s runways packed, his plane was diverted to Atlantic Canada. It was one of hundreds redirected across the East Coast during Operation Yellow Ribbon.

Later that afternoon, the attacks hit closer to home for Coneybeare. Her 10-year-old son, Patrick, and his classmate Robbie walked down Highland Street from school to wait at her office, just like any other weekday afternoon. The friend’s mother called ahead, and asked if Coneybeare could talk to the boys before they saw the horrific news coverage on television.

She took the two boys outside and sat them down on a bench near the village barn. “I sat down and explained to them what had happened,” she recalled. “I told them, ‘you’re going to see pictures that are frightening… but we’re safe. The world has changed, and it will never be the same’.”

The travel industry barely moved in the weeks after the attacks. Coneybeare said bookings dried up completely, leaving her to lay off her staff and manage the office alone. It wasn’t until late November that nervous clients slowly started calling again to ask about new airport security protocols and whether it was safe to fly.

While Coneybeare was navigating the impact of the terror attack in the County, Haliburton resident Melinda Hummel was living through the chaos on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. had happened,” she recalled. “I told them, ‘you’re going to see pictures that are frightening… but we’re safe. The world has changed, and it will never be the same’.”

The travel industry barely moved in the weeks after the attacks. Coneybeare said bookings dried up completely, leaving her to lay off her staff and manage the office alone. It wasn’t until late November that nervous clients slowly started calling again to ask about new airport security protocols and whether it was safe to fly.

While Coneybeare was navigating the impact of the terror attack in the County, Haliburton resident Melinda Hummel was living through the chaos on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Hummel explained that she was waiting tables at Ruby Foo’s on Broadway in 2001 after returning from teaching English in Vietnam. She said she had just walked back to her 96th Street apartment from running an errand to the bank when her mother called from near Gravenhurst, telling her to turn on the TV. That’s when she watched the second plane strike the World Trade Center.

With the subway system cut off, she said that commuters began making the trek north away from Ground Zero.

“Everybody’s coming uptown in soot,” Hummel said. “Everybody’s coming up like zombies.”

Ruby Foo’s opened its doors that afternoon, becoming a gathering place for New Yorkers, including stressed family members and off-duty colleagues connected to firms like Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 employees in the North Tower.

Hummel said the attacks changed the direction of her life. Within a month, she was baptized, moved over to Brooklyn, and eventually returned to teaching English before relocating to Haliburton in 2017.

Coneybeare said that Sept. 11 sits among dates like D-Day as a reminder of how quickly the world can change. She also reflected on how communities responded, pointing directly to the generosity across Eastern Canada when thousands of stranded travellers were taken in by complete strangers.

“It just makes me so proud to be a Canadian, what the people of Eastern Canada did for all those passengers,” Coneybeare said.

Both women said they continue to carry their memories of that day with them, 25 years later.

“It always reminds me of how blessed I am to be alive,” Hummel said. “God came into my life… I started to be proactive in seeking the truth and what my purpose is.” Close to 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks, including 24 Canadians.

After nearly 16 years as a trustee with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB), Gary Brohman is not running in the fall election.

“Approximately 80 commencement speeches; the meetings? I won’t add up,” Brohman said with a chuckle while seated at the kitchen table of his Haliburton home.

There have also been many kilometres of driving over a vast TLDSB region to attend school board meetings.

Brohman had a contender when running for his first term in office, but was acclaimed the last three.

“It’s quite an honour to put your name forth in the public and be elected (or acclaimed),” Brohman said. He added that being a part of the TLDSB team had been a “pleasure.”

The former Hal High principal said he made the decision half way through this term to retire. He said it is purely based on age. At 81, he finds night driving to meetings in places such as Lindsay more difficult.

Asked for tangible examples of things he was able to achieve for our area, or decisions he was able to influence, the former football coach pauses.

“It is really difficult because the role of a trustee is a governance role, versus the operational issues. So, to make change as one trustee, you need a team. And that part of making tangible changes is basically, simply, this: if you ask questions, you might not get the answers you want, but it sticks with people.”

Brohman said his motto has always been “to make education one step better each and every day. It’s simplistic, but the way you do that is ask questions.”

He added, “I’m proud of being a listener to the moms and dads and the kids of this constituency.” He noted that has meant giving advice, and directing parents to the right people at the school board to get answers.

He’s also proud of the free advice he has given students at grads over the years, with one of his favourite expressions being “go to class, go to class, go to class.” He has also challenged them to have dreams.

Often the one who gets the biggest cheer at commencements, Brohman attributes that to “kindness works. Power doesn’t work.”

A former teacher, vice-principal, and principal, he knows all about policies and procedures. However, “when your child’s in front of me? I don’t see policies and procedures. I see the child, so kindness works.”

He uses the analogy of being pulled over by the police for doing 110 km/hr in an 80 km/hr zone and having the officer knock it down to 90 km/hr.

“When that child came in front of me. I always wanted to knock it down to 90.”

He acknowledges big changes in education over the past 16 years, including Bill 101, officially named the Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026, which changes how public school boards are run and how student grades are calculated.

He said it has led to a diminished trustee role.

“Ninety-nine per cent of the calls I get are from parents on operational issues. So, all you can do is listen, advocate, send it to the director or superintendent. I don’t have the privilege of disagreeing.”

It used to be that trustees could fire directors of education, for example, but no longer have that power.

That said, Brohman thinks the TLDSB and local schools, in particular, are in good shape.

At Hal High graduations, he encourages students to look into the audience and see alumni who have moved onto the trades and other professions, such as doctors and lawyers.

Brohman said it’s been an “honour and privilege” to serve, and “how thankful I am of my constituents’ support.”

Back-to-school will feel a little different for Hal High students this week, with Trillium Lakelands District School Board’s (TLDSB) Wes Hahn noting major changes to the way kids will be evaluated and marked in the classroom.

With schools reopening this past Tuesday (Sept. 8), Hahn said attendance and in-class participation will contribute towards final grades for each subject – 15 per cent for youth in Grades 9-10, and 10 per cent for those in Grades 11-12.

Hahn said the change was legislated by the Ontario government via Bill 101, the Putting Student Achievement First Act, which passed in March. While direction has come from the province, it’s being left to local-level school boards to figure out how to onboard it.

The local education lead said excused absences will not count against a student’s mark, with parents able to keep their kids home if they’re sick, or for another explained reason, without punishment.

“We’re working out the details of what this all looks like. This marking system, the way of doing it, is going to be new. How teachers mark participation and look at participation [will change],” Hahn said. “Teachers want to get this right and we’ll work with them on it.”

Board trustee, Deb McInerney, asked at an Aug 25 schoolboard meeting if there would be special guidelines for students who learn differently.

“I’m going to ask… that we ensure we have something that recognizes not all students participate in the same way or to the same degree,” she said. “I was a kid who would have gotten 100 per cent participation all the time, but students who have anxiety, are more introverted, unsure of their language skills, or have been bullied or had mental health issues are going to be far less likely to open their mouths in a secondary school classroom.”

Hahn said teachers would use their judgement on a case-by-case basis.

“They know their kids and they’re not going to want to put them in a bad position,” he said.

Usually a man of few surprises, Russell Sisson startled those who knew him best last month, calling time on a career at Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve that spanned six decades.

The 77-year-old officially retired from his “jack of all trades” position at the Forest Aug. 6, bringing an end to 63 years of continuous employment in the area.

Known to most as one of the friendly faces responsible for fixing culverts, installing docks and brushing and dragging roads in the summer, while plowing base camp and maintaining snowmobile trails through winter, Sisson has long been one of the company’s most reliable employees. He rarely took time off – a consequence of living where he worked for so many years.

He got his start at 14, taking a general labourer position at the old Kennisis Lake sawmill in 1963. He worked there under Pat Waddell for about seven years, working on the boardway and at the hot pond. When Sisson met his wife, Doreen, in 1968, he moved her up to the forest with him.

“He told me it would be temporary, but we lived there most of our lives,” Doreen said. The couple moved to an apartment on Hwy. 118 outside Haliburton three years ago.

Sisson got his engineering licence in his 20s and worked the steam room at the sawmill, which ensured the buildings in the yard had hot water and electricity – a novelty rather than the norm back then, he said. He was also working weekends, mapping trails and establishing campsites throughout the 100,000-acre property.

By the time the sawmill closed in 1970, Sisson said the forest was starting to become a tourism hub. People would come to the area to camp and fish. He was taken on full-time once his mill work ended.

“I don’t know, I was just there. That was always the way,” Sisson said, when asked if he had a job title. “They had a tractor for me in the summer and another one for winter, and there was always a long list of things to do.”

While he never had a problem getting up at the crack of dawn, usually waking up by 4:30 a.m., Sisson said things changed one late July morning. He went through his normal daily routine but, after arriving at work, reached something of a mental crossroads.

“For some reason that morning I decided I didn’t want to do this anymore. So, I went to see my manager and told him, ‘I’m retired’,” Sisson said, noting he served his two weeks’ notice. He was the forest’s longest tenured employee.

Doreen said she didn’t believe him at first when Sisson delivered the news.

“Even from being a young boy, that was his place in the world. I’ve never known a life without Russell being up there, neither have our four girls,” Doreen said. “I was genuinely shocked. I think we all just thought we’d get a call one day to say something had happened.”

The couple reminisced about a life filled with happy memories – the forest was the perfect place to raise their daughters Lisa, Kendra, Tanya and Sara. The two eldest, Lisa and Kendra, have lakes named after them on the property.

Pushed for major highlights, Sisson said becoming a chance Yamaha model during one of their shoots at the forest.

Mostly, it was the sense of community the leased campsites and snowmobiling created. He reminisced about families coming to stay in all seasons, with each new generation running to the end of their campsite driveway to wave as he passed by.

“It didn’t feel so much like work. I had a lot of fun out there,” he said.

While he still wakes up at 4:30 a.m. most mornings, Sisson said he’s content giving up the rat race. “No more rushing, being on somebody else’s time. I get to do exactly what I want to do now, which is strange but also pretty great,” he said.