Algonquin Highlands mayor Liz Danielsen has reiterated her council’s commitment to finding a long-term solution for residents requiring boat access to the Boshkung chain of lakes, though warned there will be no quick fix.

Those with property on Twelve Mile, Boshkung, and Little Boshkung lakes have been left scrambling after it was announced last month Wedgewood RPM – the only marina with full-service boat launching capabilities in the area – is closing.

RPM Marinas general manager, Cheryl Downs, said the Wedgewood property has been sold and will not be operating as a marina under the new ownership. While people will be able to use the facility to get their boats on the water, it won’t be open in the fall for boat removal and storage.

The three impacted lake associations have appealed to Algonquin Highlands and Minden Hills townships to intervene.

Chris Card, Algonquin Highlands’ parks, recreation, and trails manager, told council May 2 there aren’t many options for local staff to pursue. Algonquin Highlands operates a nearby boat launch on Hwy. 118, into Little Boshkung Lake. Card said the water is very shallow at the site, making it unsuitable for most large boats.

He said dredging the site – excavating sand and other surface materials underwater – would likely be too expensive, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and take several years to complete. Card couldn’t say for sure, even after all the effort, whether it would work.

“In my opinion, just doing a quick assessment of the soil conditions there, it seems unlikely,” Card said. “It’s a large sandbar. The shallow area is a couple of football fields in size… you’d need to dredge 200 metres into the lake, and even then, I think the sand would fill right back in.”

He recommended council hire a consultant to provide a more professional opinion, which they agreed to do at a cost of up to $5,000.

Danielsen said she has had several discussions with Minden Hills counterpart Bob Carter. She believes the townships can work together to address the issue. One suggestion is for them to work with another resort property on Twelve Mile Lake – Twin Lakes Resort, which was recently taken over by new owners – to install a new launch.

Card indicated this was likely the most costeffective way of dealing with the issue, while Danielsen added it was the only solution she could envisage being ready by the fall.

“Steps are being taken to find out what the legal implications are, and what the access possibilities would be. Right now, [Minden] is agreeable in assessing that as a possibility,” Card said.

Minden Hills owns a stretch of shoreline along Twelve Mile, though it can only be accessed by private property. Minden council would need to authorize any deal.

No way to intervene

Algonquin Highlands coun. Sabrina Richards asked if staff had been in touch with the new owners of the Wedgewood RPM property to see if they’d be willing to keep the launch in until fall. Danielsen said the township still doesn’t know who the new owner is.

“This has come out of nowhere that we have been put into this position,” Richards said, asking if the township had any authority to reverse the sale, or negotiate a new deal. She suggested the launch area be removed from any agreement, and that Algonquin Highlands and Minden Hills submit a joint bid to buy it.

CAO Angie Bird advised against, saying there would likely be legal ramifications. Even if successful, she said that option would be “a long way down the road.”

Card suggested if the township was considering purchasing private property to house a new launch, there may be other areas on the lake chain to consider.

Danielsen said council needed to be mindful of its other projects and priorities, particularly surrounding docks and landings.

“We have other lakes that have no access points. I know we’re going to hear ‘well if you’re going to develop a new private boat launch there, what about us?’ and it’s a really good question,” Danielsen said. “We just don’t know what’s going to be feasible.

“There’s a real anxiety from people for us to do something… there’s so many steps involved in trying to do any kind of upgrade at the Hwy. 118 site. It just won’t happen this year. Things don’t work that quickly in a municipality with the levels of approval we need to get,” she added. “I don’t see a solution being in place by this fall.”

First recognized in Ontario in 2013, First Responders Day, celebrated all over the province, is a chance to meet those ‘on the job’ in the community, and learn more about the critical work they do every day.

Sue Tiffin, community safety and wellbeing plan coordinator for the County of Haliburton, worked with the EMS, OPP, and fire to organize the day on April 1.

She said, “it is a chance to remember that they are out there, and an opportunity for people to see what it is like in the back of an ambulance so not to be scared if ever they need the service.”

An all-ages event, children got to climb all over fire engines while adults such as Scott Boesveld – who was with his wife and four children – checked out an ambulance. “It is really cool, I liked to see them not in an emergency.”

The first responders were having just as much fun. Jarrod Lawrance, who just completed his training as a volunteer firefighter said, “it is great to see the kids having fun and getting to meet some people from the community at an event like this.”

Tiffin believes it is important for the community to get together and learn what can be done to be pro-active and how to put in place preventative measures before a crisis happens. “It is a chance for the first responders to share their knowledge and experience with the community, and for people to get out and thank them for the work they do.”

Chris Duchene has been a hockey mom for 28 years and counting.

Speaking from Dallas, Texas – the day after watching her son, Matt, and his team, clinch their first-round series over the Las Vegas Golden Knights – Duchene said, “oh my gosh, it was unbelievable. DAWN LAURIE HEATHER

“With about 10 minutes to go, we were up by one, and I thought ‘I don’t know if I can make it’. I just want it to be over’,” she said of the tension in the third period of the game seven decider.

She recalled how Marg Nicholls, the mother of Bernie Nicholls, would attend the Coby Islanders’ tournament at the end of the year to watch her boys play “and when it was a close game, she would go and hide in the bathroom. She couldn’t watch it.”

On May 5, Duchene joked she was like Marg – whom she considers to be one of the best hockey moms in Haliburton County. “I was close to pulling a Marg and going into the bathroom.”

Dallas won the game 2-1 and the series four games to three.

She and husband, Vince Duchene, were staying in Dallas for the Stars two home games against the Colorado Avalanche May 7 and 9. She said after knocking off last year’s champs, she felt the Stars were now hoping to go on to compete for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Chris usually tries to stay under the radar. She was in Dallas for the Star’s mom’s trip the week of Feb. 12 and did appear on ESPN with Matt.

While she is pleased Matt and his team have made it into the second round of the playoffs, she said “as a mom, you are proud, but your touchstone all the time is just ‘is he happy’? That’s always been the number one concern.”

She noted her son had been playing hockey since the age of five and is now 33.

“I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve missed him play.” That has included late nights when he played in Colorado and its later time zone.

“You just kind of feel like you’re trying to be supportive even though he is a grown man with a family. He has a wife. He doesn’t so much need mom any more. But you feel like you need to be there, should he ever need to reach out, or should he want you all of a sudden.”

Chris said Matt has great support from his wife, Ashley, and other people in his life, too. He is also the father of three children himself.

“We’re there for him when he needs us. He does lean on us. I think he was super happy we were here for (gave seven),” Chris said.

Matt says he gets a lot of strength from his mom. “I think I’ve gotten my drive to succeed and passion for what I do directly from my mom.”

He added, “she’s always there when I need her to be, and need to talk. She’s a great role model for me in her day-today life and how she handles herself. I love her a lot and I’ve always had a good relationship with her.”

The Haliburton School of Art + Design (HSAD) has been spared after parent entity, Fleming College, announced widespread program cuts at its Lindsay and Peterborough campuses last week.

President, Maureen Adamson, confirmed April 24 that 29 full-time programs are heading for the scrapheap – 16 in Peterborough and 13 in Lindsay, including several renowned geographic information system (GIS) and environmental courses. This comes after months of uncertainty, with Fleming one of dozens of post-secondary institutions impacted by new restrictions on overseas students.

In January, immigration minister Marc Miller said the federal government will cap the number of international study permits it issues over the next two years. Approximately 360,000 new undergraduate permits will be issued in 2024 – a 35 per cent reduction from last year.

Fleming had around 3,500 international students for the 2023/24 school year, accounting for approximately half the student body. Adamson, in a statement to media, said the cuts were necessary given the college is anticipating a substantial drop in international student numbers come fall.

“The related significant reduction to our budget has had a profound impact on college operations, and we are moving quickly to stabilize our institution and prepare for future years,” Adamson said.

Speaking to The Highlander last week, HSAD dean Xavier Masse said the future looks bright for Fleming’s campus in Haliburton.

He confirmed all 10 of its full-time programs will return in the fall, including popular artists blacksmith, glassblowing, ceramics, jewelry making, and fine arts courses. HSAD is also expanding its offerings in continuing education, offering more options for would-be students.

Residence going ahead, no program cuts

“I think it absolutely makes sense to have a school for fine arts in the community, to have these great programs and to maintain them, especially knowing Haliburton County is a very artistic community itself,” Masse said. “Our campus has a great reputation and a bit of an aura that transcends this community.”

Masse credited the school’s faculty for developing programs that are highly sought each semester.

“I think it’s a big draw – having a highcalibre group of instructors and state-ofthe-art studio space… if you look at that combination it makes for quite a unique campus, not only in Ontario but across Canada,” he added.

The dean said he was excited by the changes coming to continuing education. Courses will now run from February to November, expanded from summer-only. Masse said there will be approximately 250 programs available this year, with new offerings in digital media and video game design.

Residence build ongoing

Drew Van Parys, Fleming’s executive vice president of corporate services and marketing, confirmed the college is proceeding with its student residence build in Haliburton.

Workers broke ground on the 47-unit project in late 2023, but there was concern it could be delayed or cancelled after Adamson, in January, said Fleming would be assessing all options following the federal government’s international student bombshell.

“After a full analysis, it was determined the best path forward was to proceed with this important addition to the Haliburton campus,” Van Parys said. “The federal limits on international students will not have a significant impact on our plans in Haliburton.”

Construction is on-schedule, with Van Parys saying most of the framing work has been completed for the two new buildings. He said the college is planning for occupancy in early 2025.

The $16 million project has been described as a “game-changer” by Masse, with the two, three-storey facilities adding to HSAD’s footprint within Glebe Park.

“It’s a massive, massive project for us… that’s why we’re trying to be a little more strategic about our programming, to make sure we have great options for people – because once this residence opens there will be more opportunities for students to come here,” Masse said.

For a full list of program options in Haliburton, visit flemingcollege.ca/school/ haliburton-school-of-art-and-design.

Minden cottagers Doug and Enid Hannon helped put Kinmount on the map last week after the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) announced the couple as winners of February’s $70 million Lotto Max jackpot.

The winning ticket was purchased at the Kinmount Independent Grocer ahead of the Feb. 20 draw. While the couple has declined interviews with media, including The Highlander, they shared their story with OLG ahead of the April 25 announcement.

“I was coming home one evening and called my husband and asked if he wanted me to stop and pick up some lottery tickets – he said ‘no, let’s have supper, and then we need to discuss something.’ I thought to myself ‘uh oh, what have I done’,” Enid said.

Doug had brought up OLG’s homepage and scanned their winning ticket, purchased a few days earlier.

Community bash in Kinmount

“I said ‘oh, we’ve won $70,000’ and Doug said, ‘look at it again’,” she added.

Lots of screaming and crying ensued, Enid said. The Hannons kept the news to themselves for weeks before bringing their family into the loop just prior to the public unveiling. They’re planning to share the money “to make sure our family enjoys it,” Doug said.

Enid said she’s planning some family vacations and wants to renovate the kitchen at the couple’s Lakefield home. The Hannons say they have no plans to move.

OLG held a community celebration in Kinmount April 26. Between noon and 3 p.m., company representatives descended upon the main street stretch of County Road 121, offering free lottery coupons to passersby. The company also organized a DJ and coordinated with Gus’ Restaurant for complimentary food.

OLG spokesperson Tony Bismonti confirmed the Hannons win was the biggest of 2024 thus far.

“Obviously, whenever someone wins $70 million it’s big news, but because it happened in such a small community, we wanted to come out, spread the love, and really celebrate the occasion,” he said. The winners didn’t attend.

The owners of the Kinmount store also received a small bonus, around $2,000, for selling the winning ticket, Bismonti said.

The maximum payout on all OLG lottery games is $70 million, though Bismonti teased that will be going up in the fall. He said he wasn’t aware of any other win of this size in Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County.

Yashwanth Putta has owned Kinmount Independent Grocer for about 10 months. He said he took a call from OLG April 22, as he was preparing for a family trip to New Brunswick.

“I didn’t believe it – they said they wanted to come and host this event, but I thought it was all a joke,” Putta said. “But what an incredible thing to happen. There have been other wins at the store before, but nothing like this. It’s definitely once in a lifetime for us.”

His friend, Surya, was the cashier the day the Hannons bought their winning ticket. He remembers it well – one of this past winter’s rare cold spells had engulfed the community, meaning business was slow. He estimates selling about 30 lottery tickets that day.

Once news broke that a winning ticket had been sold in the Kawartha Lakes area, Surya said he had a feeling he’d processed it.

As the days turned into weeks, his confidence subsided. Surya said he’d forgotten all about it when Putta called him last week to break the news. When he found out it was the Hannons who had won, Surya said he was happy.

“They stop in a lot. I saw them a couple of times after they bought that ticket. They came in to buy usual things. They kept the secret,” he said.

Gus Norman, who owns Gus’ Restaurant in town, said this is a great story for Kinmount.

“I had no idea about any of this until last week… seeing someone win $70 million in a small town like Kinmount, it’s just unheard of. I was talking to a couple of ladies in line for food today and they said they hadn’t seen crowds like this for the [Kinmount fair] parade even. So, to have the community come out like this is incredible,” he said, estimating around 300 people attended the celebration.

“Nobody knew where Kinmount was until the $70 million ticket was sold, but now everyone knows where Kinmount is,” he added.

At the one-year anniversary of news the Minden emergency department would be closing, health care lobbyists are accusing the Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) of a 36 per cent jump in CAO salary last year; have panned the Ontario government budget; and gone to Queen’s Park to provide feedback on Bill 180 (the budget).

It was announced April 20 of last year that the ER would be closed effective June 1.

Richard Bradley, of the ‘Save Haliburton County Emergency Healthcare Group’ issued a media release claiming, “as the Minden emergency department was closed, the Haliburton Highlands Health Services increased CEO pay by 36 per cent in one year, and 62 per cent since 2016, according to the Sunshine List.”

The Sunshine List is annual reporting of public servants making $100,000 or more.

Bradley said his group, and impacted residents, “find the 36 per cent pay increase quite offensive as the CEO of the Haliburton Highlands Health Services is apparently rewarded for failing the County.”

The 2023 pay was $245,351 salary and $562 benefits for a 36.3 per cent rise from 2022.

No reward

However, HHHS board chair David O’Brien says that isn’t the case at all.

O’Brien, on April 26, said the 36 per cent represented unpaid holidays owed to former CEO Carolyn Plummer at the time she left the organization.

“It’s very simple why this happened. When Carolyn left, we paid out her unused vacation. She never took a vacation during COVID at all. She couldn’t. There was just no time to do it because the hospital was in constant emergency. She had about a dozen or so weeks of vacation to be paid out. That’s exactly what it is. Nothing more than that,” he said.

Meanwhile, founder of ‘Minden Matters and Reopen the Minden ER’, Patrick Porzuczek also issued a release.

He said in the recent Ontario budget, “rural communities like Minden have been overlooked, leaving residents without essential healthcare services and transportation options to hospitals.

“Despite a four per cent increase in overall healthcare spending, Minden, with a closed emergency room, continues to face significant challenges in accessing necessary medical care and transportation to Haliburton hospital.”

He added it has created “a distressing situation” for residents. Porzuczek said it is “particularly worrisome for the elderly and retirees who specifically chose Minden for its proximity to one of the best emergency rooms in rural Ontario.”

Minden groups return to Queen’s Park

The group went to Queen’s Park April 22 to participate in the public hearings on Bill 180. Porzuczek said, “our aim is to advocate for the necessary resources and support our community’s desperate needs, extending beyond Minden to the entire catchment area.”

When it comes to the four per cent base hospital funding, O’Brien said HHHS didn’t know yet what they will be getting. He added they don’t just have Haliburton and Minden hospitals, but also two long-term care homes and community service delivery. He said most long-term care homes are run by municipalities.

“I can’t answer the question whether we’re going to get four per cent because I don’t know where it’s going to be applied to.” He said HHHS expected to know within a month, and in time for the upcoming AGM.

The Highlander also asked about the impact of Bill 124. O’Brien said “the government is paying us but it’s coming in chunks. They will make us whole. They have committed to that.”

He estimated HHHS’ deficit, as of April 26, at approximately $3-$3.5 million.

The Minden Paper also appeared before the standing committee on finance and economic affairs regarding Bill 180 (the budget). They discussed their work, as reported in the April 11 Highlander.

Spokesperson Jeff Nicholls told the committee 25 per cent of Ontario hospitals posted a deficit in 2022, and 75 per cent in 2023. He added one health service, however, posted a large surplus and received in the neighbourhood of 24 per cent funding, compared to four elsewhere.

“The funding allocation inequities suggest disparities and necessitate a review of funding processes to ensure fair distribution and a transparent, data-driven approach to meeting each hospital community’s needs and concerns while maintaining system integrity,” Minden Paper told the committee.

They further panned chronic year-overyear underfunding, Bill 124 hindering recruitment and retention efforts, and forcing a dependence on high-paid agency nursing.

Nicholls added hospital financial reporting, and board meeting minutes, were also inconsistent. The group made recommendations to close those gaps and create standards. They also pointed out what they believe to be “a systemic disregard for community input in healthcare decisions.”

While the Ontario government is touting a new “out of sight, out of mind” cell phone policy at schools provincewide, Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) says it has had rules in place governing their use for some time.

Education minister Stephen Lecce sent a letter to parents and guardians with children in the public school system April 29, stipulating cell phones be banned from in-class use between kindergarten and Grade 6, and heavily discouraged for students in Grades 7 to 12.

“To help reduce distractions in our schools, starting this September, we are denying cell phone usage during instructional time so that students can focus on getting back to basics and learning foundational skills like reading, writing, and math,” Lecce said.

Younger students are being told to keep phones on silent and out of sight during school time, while those in Grades 7 to 12 are still allowed to use their phones on school property but will have to gain special permission from a teacher for use in the classroom.

Carolynne Bull, TLDSB director of communications, told The Highlander TLDSB has had a similar policy in place for several years, through its student code of conduct.

Lecce said the province is also removing social media access from all school networks and devices “to help strengthen in-person relationships, communication, and socialemotional skills.”

Moving forward, he noted report cards would also include comments on students’ distraction levels in class.

The ministry is also updating its rules on vaping in schools, with a new zero tolerance policy coming into effect.

“Parents will be immediately informed and vapes will be given up and disposed of,” Lecce said. “There are immediate consequences for students caught in possession of illegal substances.”

Lecce said the province is paying for schools to install vape detectors to help combat “an alarming rise” in youth vaping. The province is also investing in wraparound supports for students looking to stop vaping.

The education minister said information on these new policies should start at home.

“To truly change behaviour, we are asking for your support and collaboration to hold conversations at home about the new expectations,” Lecce said.

Bull noted TLDSB will be updating its policies to reflect the changes in the near future.

“The revisions are intended to help foster positive school climates that support the achievement and wellbeing of students in Ontario. This is aligned with the goals outlined in our strategic plan, so any initiative to further our goals is welcomed,” Bull said.