Highlands East mayor Dave Burton and councillors Angela Lewis, Ruth Strong, and Cec Ryall, visited the Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association (HHOA) fish hatchery May 1 for a tour of the facility.

Burton had met with HHOA president, Dan Smith, during a recent fish stocking on Paudash Lake and wanted to learn more about efforts across the County.

The team from Highlands East donated $5,000 to support various HHOA activities, including its community hatchery program, which has seen volunteers stock County lakes with more than 800,000 fish over the past 30 years.

As part of this year’s efforts, through April HHOA stocked approximately 26,000 fish into 12 local lakes.

The Haliburton County Snowmobile Association (HCSA) held its annual general meeting at the Haliburton Legion May 12, with members reflecting on a down year.

President Neil Vanderstoop said that while an unusually warm winter ran roughshod over HCSA operations, the club still had plenty to celebrate.

He noted $50,000 was spent on trail improvements throughout the season, including to TOP B112 and Trail 9, while $2,000 was donated to Haliburton Highlands Health Services as part of HCSA’s ongoing commitment to support health-related projects in the community.

Vanderstoop said he was proud of the work his small but mighty team had accomplished. HCSA wrapped up its 2023/24 season Feb. 27.

A new 10-year stewardship plan for Glebe Park has been finalized and will focus on felling dangerous and hazardous trees, maintaining existing trail routes, and upgrading mapping at the 175-acre property.

JJim Blake, chair of Dysart’s Glebe Park and museum committee and curator of the Haliburton Sculpture Forest – located within the park – told Dysart et al council April 23 volunteers had been working on the plan since 2019. It replaces a previous strategy that had been in place since 2010.

“An enormous amount has happened since then – it feels like a completely different park now,” Blake said. “The introduction of mountain bike trails, the expansion of our snowshoe trails that now traverse the entire park, the new residence buildings for the college… it’s a fantastic space for the community to explore.”

The plan features three stewardship objectives – promote the space for recreational and cultural use, maintain the park’s ecological integrity, and ensure visitors are safe.

One of the biggest projects, Blake said, will be bringing down trees that are dead, or dying, due to beech bark disease. The ailment is an insect fungus caused by a beech scale bug, which feeds on the trees, causing cankers that spread and eventually kill the trees.

Blake said beech bark disease has been prevalent in the park for years but is now becoming a major problem, with most of the impacted trees now dead.

“We are dealing with them – we’re taking the trees down and then the recommendation is they be left where they are. We don’t want the wood taken out of the forest because that just transfers the disease somewhere else,” Blake said.

Deer looking for food in park

He noted volunteers assess trees regularly throughout the year and make note of any that could be hazardous. Blake said one of the committee members, a retired forester, then makes a final assessment. If a tree needs to be felled, Blake said he works with a local company who completes the job “for a very reasonable price.”

The environmental makeup of the forest has changed over the years, Blake said. An increased presence of deer has seen some native species, such as eastern hemlock, almost completely eradicated. With the township passing a policy outlawing deer feeding in Haliburton village, the animals are frequenting Glebe Park more often looking for food.

Blake said the park’s increased deer population could be partly responsible for declining maple tree regeneration, with sugar maple seedlings a go-to snack.

After seeing other native populations like Canadian Yew and ground hemlock take a hit recently, Blake said a key part of the plan is developing permanent sample plots throughout the forest, to be monitored and inventoried regularly, to track changes and trends in forest structure and composition.

In terms of trails, Blake said there are 13.5 kilometres dedicated for cross-country skiing, 7.66 kilometres for snowshoeing, 12.5 kilometres for hiking, and more than 10 kilometres for mountain biking.

“We have an enormous amount of action in the forest… it’s also incredibly popular for dog walking,” Blake said, noting a second garbage can specifically for dog waste will be installed this year.

He said Glebe Park is “maxed out” for double-tracked wide trails and told council development of any new trail loop is unlikely in the near future. There is a plan to improve signs and mapping to help people move around the property.

Blake said there’s also a recommendation to replant some white pine trees at Glebe to help the forest get back to its roots.

“Originally, the forest would have been all white pines with some maples growing under them, but at some point all the white pines were taken out… we want to fix that,” Blake said.

Council endorsed the plan, which is to run until 2034.

A new emergency department physician at Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS), will reduce its dependence on Health Force Ontario locum physicians, CEO and president, Veronica Nelson said.

A locum is a physician who, on a temporary basis, fulfills the duties of a doctor who is absent, or who fills a role required by a hospital or practice that is short-staffed.

Nelson added Dr. Ali Bohra, who started May 2, also offers “a breadth of clinical skills from which our patients will benefit.”

County physician recruitment coordinator, Wendy Welch, explained Dr. Bohra is an emergency room specialist, not a family doctor that also does emergency. “And he’s been practising for many years.”

The County of Haliburton, in a joint press release with HHHS, said Dr. Bohra responded to a physician recruitment advertisement last fall and visited the Highlands in February with his spouse.

“Thanks to his visit, interactions with the team, and the warm welcome Dr. Bohra and his family experienced, he is excited to join HHHS,” the County and HHHS said.

Warden Liz Danielsen added, “the addition of Dr. Bohra will result in improved access to local health care for our residents and visitors to the County.”

Danielsen further said his commitment as an ED physician will have “a profound impact” on the Highlands. “His passion for healthcare, calm demeanor, and excitement to contribute positively to the community will no doubt leave a lasting impression.”

The Highlander requested an interview with Dr. Bohra, but was told HHHS and the County wanted to give him time to settle into his role before speaking with media. He was quoted in a press release as saying, “I think it’s high time for me to serve the community with respect and dignity, the same way I would wish for myself.”

Danielsen said the successful recruitment is the result of a team effort over many months between the chief of staff at HHHS, Dr. Keith Hay, and Welch.

Welch said recruiting physicians is complex at the best of times and having them come from overseas involves an added dimension, looking into immigration and visas, and the resulting red tape.

“It can be very frustrating. It takes a lot of patience. But it is so rewarding when it works out. When he started, he was just so happy to be here, so appreciative, and just so thankful.”

Welch said Dr. Bohra is staying in a County-leased property for likely two months, providing time to find something more permanent. The County also incentivizes doctors as posted on its website.

She said there will be a learning curve for him, coming from a different country, and to a rural hospital, from an urban health care facility.

She added she has a few other leads, including some from the U.K., Canada, and some U.S.-trained. “So, I’ll just keep working wherever I get the leads from.”

Danielsen said, “as we know, physician recruitment is very challenging in this current competitive market, thus ensuring we take a collaborative and innovative approach helps to bring incredible talent like Dr. Bohra to the Highlands.”

Nelson said as part of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) requirement to onboard Internationally-trained physicians who are exam eligible, there is a component where a supervisor is assigned until the physician has had the opportunity to pass the exams within a three-year period.

“HHHS is fortunate to have supervisors available to support Dr. Bohra on his journey to receive his independent practice certificate,” she said.

On the HaliDoc Facebook page, Debbie Wales welcomed Dr. Bohra.

“I had the pleasure of meeting you tonight at the ER and was very impressed with your compassion and thorough explanation in layman’s terms, in treating my sister’s broken leg. Thank you for joining the Haliburton team and welcome to Haliburton. I hope you will love it.”

Starting this fall, Haliburton Highlands Secondary School students will be able to take part in a fast-track program go get into the trades.

However, for it to work, employers will have to commit to taking on apprentices, said Jason Morissette, the high school’s co-op teacher.

The provincial government has announced that high school students who want a career in the trades will be able to spend up to 80 per cent of their time on training, and 20 per cent on academics, such as mandatory math and English classes.

Labour Minister David Piccini, during a May 1 press conference said, “we’re helping to tackle the labour shortage by allowing motivated entrepreneurial students to get on a fast-track to a career in the skilled trades.”

It means students in Grades 11 and 12 can start in the Focused Apprenticeship Skills Training (FAST) program. Between eight and 11 credits can be earned from trades training though co-op placements, while still needing math and English in Grade 11, and English in Grade 12.

Education minister Stephen Lecce said, “this is a significant increase in flexibility,” giving students many choices.

TLDSB manager of communications services, Carolynne Bull, said the school board currently has a “thriving” Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) and will be implementing the OYAP-FAST stream in the 2025-2026 school year.

“OYAP-FAST will allow students in Grades 11 and 12 to participate in full-time apprenticeship learning through 8 to 11 co-op credits in the skilled trades while pursuing their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), including continuing to attend classes to earn compulsory and optional credits. During course selection in the 20242025 school year, students will have the option to choose this stream,” she said.

Morissette likes the direction the province is going in.

“It allows a lot more student choice, and family choice, about their education. If I’m 16 years old, going into Grade 10 or 11, and I want to further my education in the skilled trades, then I’m not spending idle time in courses that aren’t for me anymore.”

He added while students may miss some “broad spectrum” courses, “this program will be for select students who are driven and can find and sign a registered training agreement (RTA).

“This is going to take community social change as well. We need our adults to mentor and sign an RTA for this program to work. The student will need to have an apprenticeship or else they cannot do this program.”

He said the students are not paid, employers do not have to hire students after co-op, and the school board takes care of the paperwork, and insurance for the students.

He sits on the Haliburton County Home Builders Association education committee.

“They really want partnerships. They really do see an aging demographic and they see that a lot of students aren’t getting exposed enough to skilled trades or they’re not understanding you can really make a good living, with incredible entrepreneurial opportunities.

“The only people who can mentor our young people about that is the people in our community that understand that.”

Morissette added this program is postsecondary education, and he would like to see the stigma around skilled trades finally eradicated. “It takes a village to raise our kids.”

The Haliburton Highlands Volunteer Fair was a success, according to organizer Brigette Gebauer.

“Everybody was quite pleased,” she said. “We had a lot more than last year who were interested in volunteering, which is great.”

With more than 30 organizations represented at the fair, there was a lot to choose from, and many choices to make. Sheila Kitchen is retired and wanted to find something to fill some days. “It is a bit overwhelming, so many organizations looking for volunteers in such a small community,” she said.

The target group that Gebauer was hoping to engage was exactly who came out. “Recent retirees and newcomers to the area was the cohort we were looking to target, and that was the majority that came out.”

There were other demographics represented in the attendees, such as Alyssa Gordon. “I am a stay-at-home mom with three boys, and I told my husband that I needed to find something to get me out of the house every once in a while, which is why I came to this event,” she said. She, too, was surprised at the number of organizations and the variety of choice.

Vanessa Koot, from Big Brothers Big Sisters, said the organization is always looking for volunteers/mentors. “We have a community-based program and a school-based program that run about an hour a week.” She said it is all about building dependable relationships with young people. “We work with grades 4 – 8 and it does make a difference in their academics, their social skills and helps to lower stress they may be feeling either from home or school or other factors.”

A new group, just formed last year, were looking for volunteers interested in all things apple. Luba Cargill and Vicki Sisson from the Apple Tree Identification Project (ATIP) explained that it was all about identifying, preserving, and promoting apple trees and the significance of them in Haliburton County.

“We started last year by identifying 10 locations of beautiful old orchards and apple trees and it has grown to 177 now,” said Cargill. “We have apple blossom tours throughout the County, and we are presenting our first symposium later this month.” They also have a variety of other activities they are involved with such as working with arborists and master gardeners to not only take care of the existing tress but to plant new ones so locally grown produce is available.

Haliburton Highlands Land Trust representative, Christel Furniss, said they were looking for volunteer land monitors to walk the trails and report condition, etc., in order to maintain the upkeep. “We have had good interest so far,” said Furniss. “People can volunteer for a variety of different things, like fundraising, education committees.”

Many of the people who attended the fair were looking to get more involved in their community and agreed that volunteering is a good way to do just that. “It is a great way to help,” said Gayle Clements, who already volunteers with SIRCH Community Services in Haliburton. “So many things depend on volunteers to keep running.”