By Adam Frisk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As the County begins to enter the 2026 fire season, County and provincial officials are calling for a united front against the increasing threat of wildfires in the region.

During a seminar at Sir Sam’s Ski/Ride on Saturday (May 2), the Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Associations (CHA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said that protecting the landscape of the Highlands takes both individual effort and collective community action.

CHA board chair Paul MacInnes said lake and property associations play an important role when combating wildfires and climate change.

“The key for lake associations and property owners’ associations is for them to share information around the lake on what individual property owners can do to protect not only their own dwelling but their neighbours as well,” MacInnes told The Highlander. “It’s a lot of very simple things.”

During the seminar, MNRF fire advisor Ken Cox highlighted the impacts of wildfires in Ontario and how property owners can learn from the FireSmart program to protect their homes and cottages. A primary concern for Haliburton residents is the difficulty of maintaining the program’s recommended 30-metre “extended zone” of fire protection on crowded lakefront properties.

Cox said that FireSmart is a “nice to do,” but not necessarily a “have to do,” explaining that residents should focus on the immediate area around their house or cottage to help mitigate structure loss as a result of a wildfire.

“If you only do the removal of pine needles or leaves or dead grasses right adjacent to the home itself or under the decks… you’re saving yourself about 90 per cent of the time statistically,” Cox said.

The fire advisor explained that property owners should start at the structure and work outward toward the property line, removing the natural forest debris, noting that most yards already provide a natural buffer from the tree line.

Cottage association encourages good septic health

“If you have a shoreline bylaw, for example, or vegetation management, I would recommend folks just look at the intermediate zone, and not to worry about the shoreline so much because of the exact same parameters,” Cox said. “Instead of the forest being all throughout that side of the home, you’ve got a lake, and a fire is not going to come across the lake to you.”

MacInnes warned that the wildfire threat extends beyond property damage, noting the large environmental impact wildfire smoke has on our lakes and rivers.

“As climate change continues to bite harder and harder, this is going to be a bigger and bigger problem,” the CHA board chair said. “It’s pretty serious when your cottage burns down, your home burns down. But it’s also serious for the health of the lake.”

MacInnes urged the community to take action to protect the health of our lakes, with proper septic maintenance, shoreline renaturalization, and combating invasive species in the water basin.

“We need to encourage them to take the simple steps that they need to take. Keeping their septic system healthy, that’s the number one polluter of our lakes. Renaturalizing the shoreline where we’ve lost the natural shoreline. And keeping invasive species out,” he said. “It sounds simple, but it’s not.”

Deborah Renda wiped tears from her eyes as she and husband, Matt, were on hand April 30 for the official unveiling of a new public access automated external defibrillator (AED) in downtown Minden.

The unit was donated in memory of Deborah’s parents, Don and Diane Banks.

Deborah told The Highlander her mom suffered a heart attack six years ago and lived with complications until her death a year ago. Matt’s dad also had cardiac issues.

Deborah added, as owners of Boshkung Brewing, they, “happened upon Minden. We had no intention of moving here, but I think things fall into place for a reason. My dad never got to experience this beautiful town, as he died seven years ago from cancer. My mom lived with us for six years, and she got to experience everything that this town has to offer. If we can give back in some way and have my parents’ legacy be a small part of that, that’s super special to me.”

The Rendas were joined by Minden Hills councillors and staff, EMS personnel, and members of the public at the unveiling.

Mayor Bob Carter acknowledged the Rendas’ “generous contribution.”

He said, “I actually have been present when one of these was put into use to save somebody’s life, so I know how important these units are.”

He added the downtown location, in the kiosk across from the post office, is ideal “for the health and safety of everybody in this area.”

Matt spoke to his dad having had multiple heart attacks, and the fact the Minden community is aging.

“If there is, God forbid, a heart attack in town, there’s immediate access to a lifesaving device. We hope it never gets used, but if it does, we know it will be used in a great way.”

Matt said they have the same model of AED at the brewery and they are easy to use.

EMS reminded people to ring 911 in emergencies

The township of Minden Hills has released details on its community clean-up following recent flooding.

The municipality said residents can use sand from sandbags on their property. Empty sandbags can be disposed of with regular household waste, and are not recyclable. If you can’t use the sand, you can bring sandbags to the curling club (50 Prentice St.) and place them in the drop off area on the pallets provided. In Irondale, sandbags can be deposited at the Irondale Community Centre (1004 Line Drive Rd.).

Roadside pick-up of sandbags started May 5. People are asked to move the sandbags to the roadside (not on the roadway). They can be placed at the curb on: Invergordon Avenue, Bobcaygeon Road, McKnight Drive, Anson Street, Orde Street, St. Germaine Street, Prince Street and Water Street. If you can’t move the sandbags, or are outside of the areas, email flood2026@ mindenhills.ca or call 705-286-1260 ext. 500.

“We will be working with community volunteers to assist residents in removing sandbags from their properties,” the township said.

If your home or business was impacted and you have flood-damaged items and materials you need to dispose of at the Scotch Line landfill, the township has an application process to request relief from waste disposal fees. The program is intended for those who are not making a claim through insurance. Go to https:// forms.mindenhills.ca/Application-forRelieffrom-Waste-Disposal-Fees. Paper copies of the application will be available at waste facilities, the administrative office, and the S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena. Requests for extensions or exceptions can be emailed to flood2026@mindenhills.ca or call 705-2861260 ext. 500.

The township will have a limited quantity of 50 clean up kits available, suitable for general household cleaning only, and not to be used for mould remediation. Kits will be available for pick-up at the Minden Community Centre (55 Parkside St.) upper level; available on a first come, first served basis. Pick-up dates and times are May 11, from 5-7 p.m., and May 12 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The township added Lakelands Public Health has important information related to flooding on their website https://www. lakelandsph.ca/health-topics/emergencypreparedness/flooding/.

The township has information sheets with details on the clean-up at www.mindenhills. ca/flooding2026.

Dysart et al coun. Pat Casey believes financial pressure felt within the County’s four townships has more to do with continued downloading of necessary services from the Ontario government than local mismanagement.

Addressing County CAO Gary Dyke at Dysart’s April 28 meeting, Casey asked if the province provided money to support social service, childcare, housing and health programming that have been handed down to the lower level.

Dyke, who had been presenting about a new governance and affordability study County council has commissioned, indicated they do but that it’s rarely enough to cover the full cost of delivery.

“Traditionally when services are downloaded, some money may come with it but it’s not enough for ongoing maintenance. It’s like buying a brand-new truck. You might have enough money for the truck, but you can’t afford new tires or brakes when they’re needed. We’re kind of in that position right now,” Dyke said.

The CAO said that’s why the County review is so important.

“We need to look at how we’re spending every dollar right now to ensure we can augment and support… those gaps we have to fill,” Dyke said.

The County currently pays the City of Kawartha Lakes (CKL) around $3 million for childcare, housing and social services, with CKL chosen by the province to act as service manager for the region. That’s one of the areas the County has seen the biggest increase in costs, Dyke said, with some programs up anywhere from 20 to 40 per cent in recent years.

With policing costs also climbing – capped at 11 per cent the past two years – Dyke said all councils in the County have had to make some difficult decisions.

“You’re being forced into taking extraordinary steps to mitigate the tax rate increase – by reducing or deferring capital money, which moves the ball down the road,” Dyke said.

Casey said Dysart is feeling the impact.

“We have 20 bridges coming up and we’re looking at our infrastructure gaps and wondering how we’re going to handle this. So many costs have been downloaded on us with no clear way to cover the gap, unless we drastically increase taxes,” Casey said.

Upping the local levy is problematic, too, Dyke said considering the impact will be borne largely by residential ratepayers. He estimated about 98 per cent of the local tax base is residential.

He told Dysart the study will be completed by late July and presented to County council in August. There won’t be any recommendations for changes, with Dyke saying that will fall to the next term of council. The 2026 municipal election will take place Oct. 26.

“This is not designed to be critical of the manner services are being provided at the County or local level, it’s an economic study making sure we’re doing everything we can to ensure we invest the money we are collecting from ratepayers is being spent in the most efficient and effective way possible,” Dyke said.

Water samples from new locations at the Maple Lake waste disposal site will be analyzed this year to help Algonquin Highlands township understand the extent of landfill impacts to surface water at the site.

Environmental manager Melissa Murray said this was one of the recommendations engineering firm, Cambium Inc., made in its 2025 annual monitoring report, submitted to the township in February.

“We have met one of the trigger mechanisms in place as part of the monitoring process. There are different limits set when a site is developed… to ensure appropriate actions are taken in response to any potential degradation of environmental quality beyond acceptable limits,” Murray said.

According to Cambium, there is an east-west groundwater divide along the southern edge of the waste mound at Maple Lake, with water flowing north and south underground from the divide.

“Discharge to surface is possible for portions of the year, particularly in the autumn… results in 2025 indicated a dilute leachate plume extended to the north and south from the waste mound, decreasing in concentration within a short distance from the mound,” the Cambium report reads.

Murray said the plan for Maple Lake assumes groundwater isn’t discharging to the surface, hence the need for more testing. She said two new drive-point monitors will be installed, costing around $2,500.

“These aren’t dug wells, they’re points that are inserted into the ground to give an idea of the level of water and direction water is travelling underground,” Murray said. “This will allow us to look at the two locations, north and south of the site, to see if groundwater is coming up to the surface – which is possible.”

Cambium said there were elevated concentrations of contaminants in surface water tested at Maple Lake last year, though non-waste sources such as road salt and saturated organic soils were the primary influencers. They said there’s no indication of any adverse impacts to down-gradient groundwater users off-site.

Murray said the township has never mapped out where the watercourse that flows under the landfill goes, noting the additional testing will help “see where the surface water is and whether we have to look at future [permanent] sampling… or if there’s a waterbody that requires monitoring.”

The engineer also recommended the removal of three surface water monitoring points at the old landfill site at Oxtongue Lake, south of Hwy. 60, that had been in place for 10 years.

“Data collected since 2015 indicates stable water quality at these locations and that the historical landfill has not adversely impacted the nearby unevaluated wetland,” Murray said.

Deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux asked if there was any benefit in continuing to monitor the sites to ensure issues don’t arise in the future, but Murray said it would be an unnecessary cost.

“Landfill waste becomes more stable over time… leachate and other impacts don’t increase if there’s no continued landfilling [which there isn’t in that area],” Murray said, highlighting the Dorset transfer station as another area the township could scale back as “it hasn’t been an active landfill for some time.”

By the numbers

Vehicle counts at Maple Lake increased more than five per cent last year, to 31,769 in 2025 versus 30,147 in 2024, while the number of garbage bags collected went up almost 11 per cent, to 49,797 from 44,927. That accounted to 380 tonnes of waste being landfilled, up from 368 tonnes in 2024.

Murray estimated the landfill has another 50 years of life left, with an anticipated closure date of 2075.

The site also collected 202.59 tonnes of blue box recyclables, 10.75 tonnes of electronics, 84.66 tonnes of scrap metal, 1.03 tonnes of household batteries and 79 CFC appliances.

Oxtongue Lake saw a slight decrease in usage in 2025. Vehicle counts dropped to 4,220 from 4,352 (3.03 per cent) and the number of garbage bags collected fell from 5,555 to 5,465 (1.62 per cent). Murray said that amounted to around 40 tonnes of residential waste.

The site also collected 27.65 tonnes of blue box materials and 5.67 tonnes of scrap metal. There was nothing to report at the McClintock Lagoon, with Murray saying it’s been two years since anyone utilized the facility.

“That’s up to the haulers in the area to decide what facilities they want to use. We do have an obligation to keep the site available,” Murray said. “It’s still being monitored, it’s still available. We keep everything up and running just in case and our monitoring shows we’re not seeing any impacts on the surface water around Fletcher Bay and Harvey Lake Creek, which is always a good thing.”

As he attends a calendar-full of appointments, stretched over days, weeks and months of uncertainty, Carnarvon’s Curtis Barker does not have much control over what is happening to his body. He is dealing with a rare bile duct cancer, related complications, and liver disease.

But on this day, the sun is shining. He puts out the patio furniture. It’s exhausting but preferable to sitting around doing nothing.

Curtis said he stays sane by keeping as active as his body allows.

You may know Curtis; and you may have seen, or even contributed to, the April GoFundMe campaign for he and wife, Megan, and their two young children. They have raised just shy of $120,000 of an original $100,000 goal.

The main objective was to fund 10 cycles of a drug called Enhertu, a targeted cancer treatment for Curtis not covered by OHIP or private insurance. Each cycle costs $10,000

The family’s life changed in September 2024 with the stage four Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) diagnosis. Curtis stopped working. He underwent a Whipple surgery, and while Megan’s private insurance covers the essential daily medications required afterward, the road since then has been incredibly difficult.

Curtis has endured first-line chemotherapy and immunotherapy, followed by secondline chemotherapy, and radiation. Along the way, he has faced multiple hospitalizations, including pneumonia, a blood infection, influenza A, and colitis. The disease has progressed, spreading to his liver, lymph nodes, and spine. He is undergoing radiation for pain management, as even strong medications are no longer enough.

At Princess Margaret Hospital, testing revealed that Curtis’s tumor is HER2 3+ positive — opening the door to a promising drug called Enhertu.

He got his first dose April 20 at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, delivered through a port in his chest. He’ll get the drug every three weeks. Money raised through the GoFundMe is paying for at least 10 treatments.

Curtis says he’s had every side effect you can get from the drug – such as nausea, fatigue, and hair loss – but the two are hopeful as they’ve read Enhertu can be successful.

He and Megan cannot believe how much the community contributed to the campaign.

Curtis isn’t much of a talker. He is at a loss for words when it comes to expressing his feelings about family, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers donating to the cause. “I have no words really. It’s crazy all this money came in.”

Megan is more expressive. “Curtis is a guy who’s made a ton of connections.” He is from the Barker family (of Barker Heating and Cooling).

After three or four treatments, they’ll do more scans to see what impact the drug is having. Until then, it’s the waiting game, which isn’t easy for Curtis, who used to work 10 hours a day as a tradesman.

He said looking after his health “is pretty much a job” now. His other work is keeping busy.

“I just try to find stuff to do. You feel like you don’t want to do anything, but you need to.” The other day, when the walls were closing in, and he was feeling up to it, he took a drive to Minden. He has a lot of friends, who pop over to take his mind off things. It helps that Megan works from home. He has his daughters. Megan said the older one is aware dad is sick, but the other still too young.

Besides thanking the community for their generosity, Curtis also encouraged people to see their doctor if they think there is something going on. The couple had nothing but praise for their team of medical practitioners.

Only about 400 people are diagnosed with his type of cancer every year in Canada. Curtis asks, “how does this even happen? Why am I blessed? Why am I the guy? How come I can win this, but not the lottery?”

For now, plans are short-term. It’s living day-to-day. Walking outside, Curtis shows some fruit trees he has planted around the property. There is new growth; a sign of spring and renewal.