New brewer has family ties at Boshkung

September 4, 2025

Working a routine 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. day job never much appealed to Ryan Prentice, the recently installed brewmaster at Boshkung Brewing.

Arriving at the Social, Boshkung’s home on Water Street in downtown Minden, most mornings around 6 a.m., Prentice said he has a litany of tasks and duties he must complete at set times every day to ensure whatever is brewing on-site meets the high standards regulars have come to expect.

“I used to be one of them,” Prentice said with a laugh, noting how he was a frequent visitor after discovering the pub in 2020. For years, he and his friends made it an annual tradition to celebrate the end of their fantasy hockey season with a few pints at Boshkung. “We fell in love with the environment that Boshkung has to offer, it became our usual hangout spot.”

Back then, Prentice was training to become a carpenter. He went to school in the city. Wanting to earn a few extra bucks, he looked to pick up a bartending gig but he couldn’t find anywhere in Toronto willing to take a chance on someone with no experience.

He vented to Boshkung owner, Mathew Renda, on one trip back home in 2023, Renda offered to take Prentice on as a server and bartender. He jumped at the chance.

For about a year, Prentice juggled his full-time gig as a carpenter and weekend shifts at Boshkung. In February 2024,

Renda approached him about becoming head brewer. There was training involved, but that didn’t deter Prentice – who was eager to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, Aaron Carter, who was Boshkung’s beer maker in 2016 and 2017, when its HQ was in Carnarvon.

Prentice started an online program through the Skilled Trades College of Canada last October, wrapping in May. He completed his internship at Lake of Bays Brewing Co. in July.

He’s been brewing at Boshkung since July 28 – his first batch was a tropical pale ale, which didn’t see the light of day. “It’s quite normal for your first brew to end up going down the drain,” Prentice said.

“It’s a very fine line, quality control wise, of what should be sold and what shouldn’t. As far as tastes go, you don’t want to put something out there that’s going to turn people off.”

Since then, he’s finished a special brew for Boshkung’s upcoming Oktoberfest festivities and is working on a pumpkin ale that will be released in the fall. In total, the craft brewery boasts over a dozen locally-made recipes.

Prentice said Boshkung has switched up the hops in its beers this year, going with a “more citrusy flavour.” Batches are brewed in a 10-hectolitre tank capable of producing 1,000 litres of liquid gold.

After debuting crème brule and tiramisu flavoured “dessert” beverages over the past two festive seasons, Prentice said he and Renda are “tossing ideas around” for this year’s Christmas feature, with a flavour to be announced shortly.

A self-described homebody with no plans to leave Minden, Prentice hopes to be with Boshkung for the long haul. His training will continue, with a beer-dinner pairing course on the radar.

“This is a dream position – as long as Matt’s willing to have more, I’d probably enjoy working here. It’s a nice feeling, at the end of the day, being able to sip on a cold one with your buddies knowing you’re the one who made it,” he said. “It’s nice too, with the family connection, my uncle having worked here – it feels like I got to pick up where he left off.”

Building bird boxes ‘keeps him going’

Lisa Gervais

September 4, 2025

Bruce Down hammers a nail into a Bluebird box in his South Lake workshop.

Asked why he hasn’t driven it in fully, he explains it is used so people can open the bird feeder to clean it. Also, they might have to quickly go in to protect newborn chicks from blowflies, a parasitic threat to Bluebird nestlings. The larvae of the flies feed on the blood and body fluids of the young birds, potentially impacting their health and survival.

Down is a bird box and bat box builder – giving them away in exchange for donations to charities, including the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation for Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden.

Selling at farmers markets, he estimated he had raised more than $8,000 for charity since Aug. 1 of last year. That’s roughly 160 boxes.

“I’m very fortunate that 90 per cent of the material I’ve had donated,” he said, taking a break from the woodworking and grabbing a camping chair for a chat on the day before his 90th birthday – which was Aug. 20.

He uses reclaimed barn boards, which are becoming scarce, for the bat boxes. He noted former Minden Hills coun. Ron Nesbitt recently gave him some barn board. Ken Barry has also donated to the bird box cause.

Down has always been into woodworking, a likely byproduct of being born and raised on a farm in the Oshawa area.

The family bought the place on South Lake in 1974, for $9,700, and family and friends built the cottage using beams and barn boards from the family farm. He worked as an agricultural salesman, but the family spent weekends up north until moving up full-time around 15 years ago.

Down recalls dropping into a sawmill near Rosedale one day and the owner offering him slabs for free, since he was just going to burn them anyway.

“That’s what started it, free slabs” he said of the boxes. “I just enjoy doing this kind of stuff.”

It also sprang from loss.

He built boxes to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation. “We lost our son, Phillip, 23 years ago to blood cancer.” And, Down lost his wife, Joan, who had been at Hyland Crest, last year.

People can find Down in the artisan section of the Minden farmers market some Saturdays. He says he doesn’t go every week. “I have to get ready. If I sell six, I have to make six.” He said it takes him three to four hours to make a bird box, a bit less for the bat ones.

“This is my home…four or five hours a day, but I have to have my tea at 3 p.m.”

At the market, he enjoys the people, and people watching.

“The odd guy will come along and sit there and talk to me for 15-20 minutes. Then he’ll ask, ‘what do you have here anyway’? before wishing me the best of luck and keeping on going.

“I had one guy at Wintergreen last fall who handed me $100, and never said anything, I said, ‘I owe you a bird house’ but he said ‘no.’ I asked for his name and address for a tax receipt. He said ‘no’. I had made some walking sticks, and he took a $5 walking stick.

“It’s the kind of thing that keeps me going, that drives me.”

Durant returns to Minden with IIHF medal

Mike Baker

September 4, 2025

Minden’s Carey Durant pauses for a moment, smiles and looks down at the bronze medallion hanging around his neck, allowing himself to feel every emotion as he reflects on nine months of work advancing the Hong Kong China national hockey program.

From September 2024 to May, Durant served as the head coach of the men’s and women’s teams in the special administrative region of China, while also guiding youth squads at U18, U14, and U11. He returned home May 31.

After taking a year-long leave of absence from his civilian role with the Haliburton Highlands OPP, Durant said he’s pleased to be back in the County. He didn’t come home empty-handed, armed with a lifetime’s worth of memories and a third-place medal from the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) Div. III World Championships, held in Mexico in April.

He also guided the men’s team to its best-ever finish at the Asia Winter Games, held in Harbin, China in January, and coached the women at the IIHF Div. II World Championships in New Zealand.

This all coming two-and-a-bit years on from a Stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis, Durant still pinches himself daily to make sure he wasn’t daydreaming and that this did all happen. ‘“One day I’m cleaning a toilet or fixing a police car at the detachment in Minden, the next I’m shaking hands with [John Lee] the chief executive of Hong Kong, meeting guys like Bob Nicholson (former CEO of Hockey Canada], and Luc Tardif, the IIHF president,” Durant told The Highlander in a recent interview.

“What an opportunity for me to go and experience something just absolutely incredible, coaching at the Asia Winter Games is just like being at the Olympics” he added. “Two years ago, I was on the brink. Next thing I’m coaching on the biggest stage in the world. Don’t ever give up on your dreams, always bet on yourself.”

What an honour

While it was a hectic start to life in Hong Kong – Durant had to formulate his own player pool, develop training programs, and establish team systems, he was proud of how much everything had progressed by the time he travelled to Harbin in early January. Right on the Russian-Chinese border, he said it’s a hockey-loving area.

He was nervous walking into the rink for the first time, saying whenever he closes his eyes he can still make out the people staring at him from the crowd, the scoreboard, and the players whipping around the ice.

“Surreal – I still get goosebumps any time I talk or think about it,” Durant said.

Hong Kong swept Group C, recording big wins over India, Macau and Turkmenistan. Despite taking a 5-2 lead over Kyrgyzstan in the qualifying round of playoffs, Hong Kong dropped a 6-5 decision in overtime – setting up what would be a humbling game against Kazakhstan.

“We lost 24-0 – they had a team full of professional players, signed to teams in the Kontinental Hockey League. We had a couple guys who played [college and junior] hockey, but they all have regular day jobs,” Durant said. “To see a team that good up close, I don’t care what the score was, every one of us learned something that day.”

The team wrapped the tournament in eighth place – it’s best-ever finish.

That gave Durant and his team the confidence to express themselves at the IIHF World Championships a couple months later. Despite dropping their first two games during round robin to Mexico and the People’s Republic of Korea, the team rallied winning three straight against the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia to earn bronze.

There was another “cool” accolade – in dressing 52-year-old goaltender Emerson Keung, Durant played a part in setting a world record for the oldest player to appear in an IIHF men’s world championship game.

In the Div. II women’s event, Durant guided an injury-riddled Hong Kong squad to a 1-4 record, beating Turkey but losing to Belgium, Ukraine, New Zealand and Australia. It was on that trip he met Tardif, spending two hours with the hockey executive.

“What an amazing human being – he gave me the history of him, how he bounced back [from not making it to the National Hockey League] to play in Europe, his involvement with the French Ice Hockey Federation and run with IIHF. He gave me some great advice as a coach and person,” Durant said.

Keeping options open

While there was an offer to extend his stint with the Hong Kong program for five more years, Durant said he’s committed to seeing out his time with the OPP – he has six years to go before retirement.

Not interested in taking on a junior coaching role, Durant has already resumed his scouting gig with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm. He’s been working with up-and-coming names like Lachlan Whelan and Andrew Laurin, top prospects for the 2026 OHL draft.

He’s not sure what doors will open in the future, but said he’ll keep an open mind to opportunities that come his way – just like he did with Hong Kong.

Reflecting on the impact he made over there, Durant said he hopes the changes he implemented will help the Hong Kong program progress up the ladder. The region will host the men’s and women’s Div. 3 IIHF World Championships next year.

“They’re years behind places like Canada and the U.S. Hockey just isn’t a focus there. Renting an hour of ice time is $1,500, it costs kids $20,000 a year to play,” he said, adding there are no professional facilities. “The rink we used [for practice] is on the 10th floor of a shopping mall, there weren’t any changing rooms. But they’re developing… they’re building their own rink for the world championships, which is a big deal.

“I think hockey is going to take off there… I’m happy and proud to have played my part. We really changed the culture of hockey in Hong Kong, we made players work for everything they got,” he added. “I think the door will always be open for me to go back if I wanted, so never say never.”

He thanked his wife, Lori, colleagues at the OPP Paul McDonald and Mike Cavanagh for encouraging him to live out a lifelong dream, and provincial police commissioner Thomas Carrique for approving it.

“I understand what it’s like now winning the lottery,” Durant beamed.

Water storybook walk to make a splash

Lisa Gervais

September 4, 2025

A nature-inspired children’s book – and partnerships – were featured at Stories in the Park Fun Fair in Haliburton last week.

Author Adele Lamothe read her book, Two Little Raindrops – and, with Children’s Water Festival partners – launched a ‘water storybook walk’ and donated a signed copy of the book to the Dysart branch of the Haliburton County Public Library.

The Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival has been extending from their annual offering for schools into sharing fun water stewardship learning at community events, said coordinator Kara Mitchell.

She said, “this new water storybook walk is expected to make a splash” with younger, primary learners they are finding attend their community water hero engagements. She said Two Little Raindrops introduces the water cycle through a rhyming story. Two raindrops are lost and miss their family. They start a journey to find their way back home and have a fun adventure along the way. The book includes a simple diagram of the water cycle and water conservation tips.

“Through my books, I want to entertain children while educating and inspiring them to appreciate this beautiful earth,” Lamothe said. “I believe when children connect with books about nature, they learn to appreciate and respect our environment.”

Mitchell said the water festival will share the walk with regional primary schools and families at future events. They are encouraging families to make a pledge to give back to life-giving water, and share their stories for potential prizes in their ‘big splash contest.’ See waterheroes.ca for more.

End of a stellar season

Submitted

September 4, 2025

Even though it was the final week of the soccer season, the enthusiasm and excitement of the players was not diminished in the slightest as the teams took to the field with more refined skill, greater endurance, and stronger perseverance than had been displayed in any of the earlier weeks.

Coaches, parents, and supporters on the sidelines all took notice of the much-improved level of gameplay that unfolded on the field as well as the noticeably better attitudes, sportsmanship, and camaraderie that continued both on and off the field.

The top moments of the summer were remembered with smiles, laughter, and celebration as the season reached its close, and the medals were proudly handed out to mark another truly stellar year of soccer in the community.

Players and parents alike expressed their thanks and gratitude to the dedicated volunteer coaches, recognizing all the long hours, energy, and commitment that had been poured into the program throughout the warm summer months.

Conversations and planning have already started about next summer’s program, with even more anticipation building for what is to come. Looking forward to next year, the organization is aiming to expand enrollment with additional players and more teams, since each season the waiting list grows longer and the demand for outdoor sports and community engagement continues to rise in Haliburton.

Fast, hard-hitting hockey

Mike Baker

September 4, 2025

New bench boss Jordan Bailey says fans can expect the same brand of Huskies hockey this coming season, continuing the legacy and principles of longtime coach Ryan Ramsay.

After spending four years with the organization as an assistant coach – one in Whitby and three in the Highlands – Bailey told The Highlander he’s “excited, proud and beyond honoured” to be leading the franchise into a new era. He was with the team for its first two seasons in Haliburton County, from 2021-2023, before moving to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens as an assistant for 2023-24. He returned to Haliburton last fall.

“This is one of the things we had talked about when I was coming back to Haliburton – if Ryan were to find another opportunity, would I be ready,” Bailey said. “I didn’t think it would be this soon, but I got the call over the summer and immediately felt this rush… this is an amazing opportunity.”

This is Bailey’s first stint as a head coach and comes after Ramsay took a skills and development coaching role with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes. Ramsay will maintain a presence with the Huskies, staying on as the team’s general manager.

Bailey will be backed up this coming season by assistants Owen Flood and Evan Foley. He’ll take the lead with forwards and the powerplay, while delegating defensive and penalty kill duties to Flood and Foley.

“I don’t see much changing as far as systems and how things are run. Ryan is still going to be a massive part of this organization. He, Owen and I have done everything together as a coaching stuff – we have a great relationship. Every decision is broken down, discussed and decided upon pretty equally, with everyone having a voice at the table. That won’t change,” Bailey said.

He sees Ramsay as a major hockey influence and mentor, saying a Jordan Bailey coached team will carry many of the same characteristics as recent Huskies squads.

“We’re going to look to be a very fast, north, heavy team. I love the way we played last year. The fans want to see a team that competes night in and night out. Work ethic away from the puck is very important – if you’re making a turnover, you’d better get that puck back, we tell people to finish their checks. It’s about doing things the right way,” Bailey said.

With players returning for training camp Aug. 21, he’s had a couple of weeks to drill down on systems and make newcomers feel at home. The season kicks off Sept. 6 with a home tilt against the Cobourg Cougars.

There will be some familiar names in the lineup – goaltenders Stephen Toltl and Carter Nadon are back, so too defencemen Kaiden Thatcher, Curtis Allen and Oliver Tang and forwards Isaac Larmand, Daniel Vasic and Chase Del Colombo.

With most newcomers born in 2007 or 2008, so between 16 and 18 years old, Bailey said the Huskies will be one of the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s youngest to start the season.

“That will give guys an opportunity to show their skills and figure out where they belong in junior hockey,” he said.

Recruitment will ramp up again mid-to-late September, when OHL teams make their final cuts. Bailey said the team will be looking for players who can add size and grit to the team.

“We were one of the bigger and heavier teams last year and that really helped us through the regular season and especially in playoffs,” he said. “We want guys with good motors and who are ready to come in every day and work.”

After finishing last year in third in the East Conference, recording 40 wins in 56 games, and making it to the conference finals in playoffs, Bailey said he’d love to go one step further and bring an inaugural championship to Haliburton County.

“It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly we need to do to win… we broke down last year a lot over the summer and, against Trenton, it was so close. We felt like a bounce here, a bounce there and it could have been a different series. At that level, it’s all about focus, staying on task and taking opportunities when they come. We have to be dialled in at all times.

“We’ve seen the level we need to be at – a lot of our guys [have come back] hungry and raring to go, ready to have a great season,” Bailey said.

Concert proceeds for youth hub expansion

Lisa Gervais

September 4, 2025

Spencer Zumpano moved to the Highlands in the fall of 2023, finding the Haliburton County Youth Wellness Hub shortly after.

Now a peer mentor who sits on youth hub committees, Zumpano said, “I come here as often as I can. I even come early sometimes because I love it here. It is honestly my safe space.

Zumpano has noticed, though, that it gets loud in the common room shared by youth. Some kids might want to play Dungeons and Dragons but not so openly in front of other youth. Others might quietly want to do homework, but the quiet might be lacking.

“I think having more space would help with learning, like doing homework for example. There isn’t a quiet space that kids can go to if they’re overwhelmed and just need some time to cool off. It’s one big area where everyone is and it can get overwhelming and loud,” he said.

Point in Time executive director Marg Cox said the number of youth coming to the hub for skills and wellbeing activities, or to access other support and services, is growing exponentially “and our space is no longer meeting the needs of youth in our community. We need to expand.”

Cox said the number of visits for services has grown from 440 in 2020-21 to 879 in 2024-25; the number of youth from 139 to 163, and number of visits for skills and wellbeing activities from 593 to 2,292.

Point in Time is presenting an evening with Kael Reid Sept. 13 in Haliburton, with proceeds going towards the expansion of the hub. Cox said it was “one step in many steps to come towards raising money for a youth hub expansion.”

Reid is an assistant professor in children, childhood, and youth studies in the department of humanities, faculty of liberal arts and professional studies at York University in Toronto.

They will be giving a songwriting and sharing workshop to youth between noon to 2 p.m., before an evening concert.

Reid, described as a “queer folksinger and recording artist,” last did programming in the Highlands in 2013.

“With the youth hub, I really think it’s important for, especially marginalized youth, having places to go that are welcoming and safe and offer the kinds of programming they might not be getting in school or at home,” they said.

The concert is Sept. 13, 7-9 p.m. at the Music Room at Castle, at 223 Highland St. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. They can be purchased at point in Time, The Music Room at Castle, Foodland Haliburton, Glecoff’s Haliburton, Agnew’s General Store in Wilberforce and Molly’s Bistro Bakery in Minden.

Warning about low lake levels

Lisa Gervais

August 28, 2025

Waterfront property owners are being advised that traditionally low water levels have arrived early this year – and they should be ready in case they have to take action, such as moving docks and water lines and taking boats out of the water early.

“There’s going to be people whose boats are stuck in the mud this coming weekend,” said Carol Moffatt, who is a member of the Coalition for Equitable Water Flow (CEWF) executive committee.

Moffatt added that depending on people’s lakes, “the (low) water levels are two to four weeks ahead of normal.”

CEWF is recommending people be attentive to the Trent Severn Waterway drawdown and fully understand it is 14 to 28 days ahead of usual.

Asked if any lakes in particular were experiencing extreme low water levels, Moffatt said, “each lake is affected differently, but the percentage of fill across the board is generally the mid-to- high 50 per cents. If this was October, it wouldn’t really matter, but it’s August.”

She said what CEWF is also trying to do is get people “to be a little more self-starting” by looking at CEWF’s website and the Trent Severn’s live water map and graphs.

“All of the lakes where there are dams; they all have a graph. You can look at the graph and go ‘yikes, my water seems to be very close to the all-time low.’ So, if CEWF says ‘hey, heads up,’ that people immediately go and look at their graph and go ‘okay, I need to take care of whatever I need to take care of’.”

Moffatt said the last time the region experienced extreme low water levels was 2012. She said it was a drought summer, “not dissimilar to this one” and people experienced problems.

She said someone on the Boshkung Lake page had posted they took their boat out three weeks ago because it is a deep hull boat and they cannot get under the bridge to get to the boat launch if the water is too low.

“People also need to be aware of how these levels affect their local boat ramp should they have one. Some boat ramps are a bit more of a deep-water boat ramp. Some, like Little Boshkung, go into shallow water and a sand bar.

“Know your lake, know your levels, know your boat ramp, know your own personal foot valve and boating situation and plan accordingly.”

Moffatt: TSW has done a really good job

Moffatt added some people think the Trent Severn draws water “so people on the canal can ride around on their boats.” She said it may be true, but is not accurate. She said the TSW has to maintain minimum flows to service municipal water systems, such as in Peterborough. So, it is the same flow for drinking water and navigation; with the priority being the water system.

She added, “the daily working considerations for the system have been supported by TSW. They’re not just saying ‘we need some water, we’re going to take it from lake A to Z…they have done a really good job, as best they can, in maintaining the minimum flows across the watershed.”

She added they have done so in extreme weather. “It’s not just that the rain is not filling the watershed, it’s also that the heat and the wind is evaporating what water we have …and then you add the water they have to take and you end up in the situation we’re in.”

Moffatt reiterated, “if we don’t get a lot of rain and you don’t make a plan, then don’t be surprised if, in two weeks, your boat’s in the mud.”

Go to CEWF.ca for more information.

New Minden housing a go

Lisa Gervais

August 28, 2025

Work has begun on an affordable housing project next to the Minden Legion.

Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing Corporation (KLHHC) director of human services, Cheryl Faber, said on Aug. 26 that KLHHC has contracted Derigay Developments Limited and clearing of the site for the build has commenced.

She said they hope the project is complete for the fall of 2026, with occupancy in the fourth quarter of next year.

The complex will comprise 35 housing units.

“As the director, human services and (interim) chief executive officer for KLH Housing Corporation, I am happy to see that this project is underway and for it to come to fruition in 2026. It is a great achievement for the community,” Faber said.

It was announced in early 2025 that KLHHC was getting $2.4 million in provincial funding to put towards the housing development on Hwy. 35, just south of the legion.

Minden Hills mayor Bob Carter said this week he was unable to comment. However, last January he said the funding was “very, very welcome. That $2.4 million has me very excited that we will actually be breaking ground on this project this year.”

It was back in September, 2020 that a public-private partnership was announced between long-time cottager, Bill Switzer, who donated the land, and the corporation. The 35 units are planned for the west side of Hwy. 35 at County Road 21, between Rotary Park and the Minden Legion, overlooking the Gull River. At the time, then corporation CEO Hope Lee, now retired, said the townhouses – valued at $6.8 million in 2020 – would provide units towards affordable housing targets.

Switzer first approached Carter about doing something with the land in 2018. Some of the delay stemmed from the Ministry of Transportation not signing off on the site.

Faber said that to apply for community housing, as administered by the consolidated municipal service manager for housing services in Haliburton County and the City of Kawartha Lakes, applications and more information on eligibility and the standardized process can be found at www.kawarthalakes.ca/en/living-here/community-housing. aspx

Carter: ministers listening

Lisa Gervais

August 28, 2025

Minden Hills mayor Bob Carter said attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa Aug. 17-20 was worthwhile.

His township had a large presence, with CAO Cynthia Fletcher and deputy mayor Lisa Schell also attending. Their colleague, coun. Pam Sayne, was also there on behalf of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, as she sits on its board.

County of Haliburton CAO Gary Dyke was present, along with warden and Highlands East mayor Dave Burton, and County and Highlands East coun. Cec Ryall. No one was there on behalf of Algonquin Highlands and Dysart et al.

Carter said “it was busy. We had delegations from Minden, from the County, some joint ones with the County and City of Kawartha Lakes. There was lots going on.”

The Minden Hills mayor added he felt like the politicians were listening.

“Absolutely. Actually, we had a couple of delegations where the minister, especially new ministers, really weren’t aware of certain facts. And there’s some things that affect rural areas in a different way than they do the city. They were listening and in a lot of cases, they were getting back to us right away, so, hopefully we did some good.”

For example, a delegation from the County met with the Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response, addressing specific emergency preparedness needs for small rural communities. And, a joint delegation between the County and CKL met with the Ministry of Education, seeking support for investment in needed childcare spaces overall, as well as bringing attention to the need to create mechanisms to support additional in-home childcare opportunities to serve the rural community.

Carter said he felt more encouraged than some past conferences.

“It was very interesting actually. When premier Doug Ford spoke, he had lower energy than normal. But he did it in a different way. With this whole thing with U.S. president Donald Trump, he was almost statesmanlike.”

In his Aug. 18 speech, Ford spoke about the threat of Trump’s tariffs and the need to spend money on Ontario products.

“Ontario municipalities spend tens of billions of dollars every year on procurement,” he said. “And that money should be going back into our communities and our province.”

He further encouraged townships to have staff back in the office five days a week. “It will help bring the public service in municipalities closer to the people they serve and will revitalize our workplaces and downtowns across Ontario,” he said.

Ford announced an additional $1.6 billion to the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program – one the Ontario government had already put $2.3 billion into – to boost housing.

Carter said having such a large contingent at AMO, “does more to bring the town forward in these conferences than we can at any other time.

“I was able to speak to seven to eight ministers. Even if we didn’t have a delegation, there is a reception and you get a chance to meet them and exchange cards. I’ve heard from a couple of them already.”

He added, “I got to speak to three or four mayors; just bouncing things off them; such as ‘how are you doing that? or how are you handling that problem’? It’s really helpful. You can get very isolated and very provincial in your thinking if you do not.”

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