The Haliburton County Master Gardeners (HCMG) are inviting the public to step into nature at the Minden Riverwalk, a popular walking path in the heart of downtown Minden.

The HCMG said that by May 26, people will see more than 20 orange and green signs along both sides of this section of the Gull River.

According to Master Gardener member Shelley Fellows, “this free, self-guided walking tour of the Minden Riverwalk documents the flora and fauna on both sides of this section of the Gull River. Called ‘stepping into nature,’ the multi-media walking tour includes photos, detailed descriptions of plants, insect information and gardening tips, along with audio stories. Everything is accessible via a smartphone app called PocketSights,”

In 2009, the shoreline was restored, and a pathway and pedestrian bridge installed. Fourteen years on, the place looks very different, said Master Gardener Carolyn Langdon. “Erosion has been stopped, native plants have matured, and the animal, bird and insect species have returned to nest, to feed and to pollinate the trees and flowers,” she said. “The tour documents this story of biological restoration, and we hope that it will inspire people to take steps to renaturalize their own property.”

The public is invited to join the opening of ‘stepping into nature’ with a community launch, May 26 at 10:30 a.m. on the trail at the corner of Invergordon Street and Bobcaygeon Road. The formal program with a “unique” ribbon cutting will be addressed by mayor Bob Carter, County warden Liz Danielson, U-links executive director, Andrew Gordon, and Haliburton County Development Corporation program and operations coordinator Heather Reid. Each attendee will receive a free native plant and Master Gardeners will lead free tours of the Riverwalk.

The walking tour was supported by a Local Initiatives Program grant from HCDC. The HCMG and entomologists from Trent University conducted insect research along the Riverwalk. The project was also supported by the Township of Minden Hills and local businesses.

HCMG is a community service organization. Members are certified Master Gardeners, with expertise in horticulture, botany and gardening in harmony with nature. They are celebrating 21 years in the Haliburton Highlands

A who’s who of the Highlands will be gathered under one roof next week as the Haliburton Home and Cottage Show returns for its “biggest ever exhibition” June 2 to 4.

Celebrating its 44th anniversary, the event will feature more than 170 vendors at the Haliburton Curling Club and A.J. LaRue Arena. Organizer, Andy Glecoff, is predicting a record-breaking year, with thousands expected to attend.

“People are just chomping at the bit – we’ve never had an early sellout [of vendor spots] like we had this year, we’ve never had this many people reaching out, asking questions about who will be there,” Glecoff said. “This is a chance for businesses to showcase themselves to our community, and for people to come out and see all the amazing things in our County.”

A wide range of exhibitors include those with products and services in home décor; furniture and appliances; docks, decks and hot tubs; heating and cooling; landscaping; construction and renovations; automotive; agriculture; real estate; alternative energy; the arts, and more.

Over a dozen non-profits will have a presence too. The Haliburton Highlands Museum and Rails End Gallery will have booths promoting their summer activities; Haliburton County Master Gardeners will provide horticultural tips and tricks; Abbey Retreat Centre will have information on its free cancer support programs. Haliburton Lions and Rotary service clubs will be attendance, while the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation and Environment Haliburton! will also be represented.

Canadian paralympic curler Mark Ideson is appearing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 3. The quadriplegic won gold with Team Canada at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and will be available for photos and to discuss his career.

Complimentary doggie daycare services will be provided by local businesses Tails and Trails and I Love Your Dog, free hearing tests conducted by Hear Canada and Hometown Hearing, while young guests will be able to meet fire mascot Smokey the Bear.

Glecoff said all attendees will have an opportunity to fill in a ballot at the Haliburton Curling Club booth for a chance to win one of three door prizes – a weekend for two at Buttermilk Falls Resort, a patio fire pit supplied by Glecoff’s Family Store, and a paddle and two rental vouchers provided by Algonquin Outfitters.

The show serves as the curling club’s primary annual fundraiser. It supports several endeavours, including the youth curling program, and subsidizing fees for new members.

“In a lot of communities, curling is getting very expensive… it’s a very social sport, we like to make sure anyone who wants to curl in Haliburton, or try it out, has the opportunity to do so,” Glecoff said, noting the club has around 240 members.

The benefits to the community are farreaching too, Glecoff said, with the show traditionally bringing more than 3,000 people to downtown Haliburton.

“These people spend money on meals, gasoline, accommodations and all the other things they need. It’s a huge economic driver for the town,” he said.

Admission is $3 for adults, with children admitted for free. The show opens June 2 from 4 to 9 p.m. and runs June 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and June 4 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit haliburtonhomeandcottageshow.com.

When Luba Cargill moved to Haliburton County from Niagara-on-the-Lake about 20 years ago, she was surprised to see apple tree orchards in the Highlands.

“I thought, ‘this can’t be, because we have a very short growing season in Haliburton and the winters are very, very harsh’,” she recalls thinking.

It sparked a curiousity about how the apple trees managed to survive locally.

However, Cargill said she did not do anything with her intrigue for a long time until she read a story in The Highlander about U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research looking for ideas for its students. She offered up a study of the County’s apple trees.

In the meantime, she wanted to plant an apple tree of her own, so reached out to the Haliburton County Master Gardeners to find out what variety of apple tree grows best in the Highlands climate. She said the Master Gardeners were in the midst of their Heritage Apple Project, whereby they collected DNA samples from leaves of existing apple trees and sent them to the University of Guelph for identification. She said the Master Gardeners are still working on that project and also looking for orchards in the area.

U-Links then got back to her about a Haliburton County Apple Blossom Tour 2023. “I thought, ‘oh, good. Let’s go for it’.” That was in April.

“I got restarted and said, ‘you know, identifying trees by their blossoms might be the easiest way to find out where they are’.”

They have since produced a brochure with a driving map that encourages the public to follow the trail and be a part of the apple tree identification process. It has a number of stops, stretching from Highlands East, to Dysart et al, Minden Hills and Algonquin Highlands.

Meanwhile, the apple tree identification project, inspired by U-Links, is collecting information on Haliburton County apple orchards, both old and new, different species and locations.

If you have apple trees on your property, and would like to get on the location tour map, ask questions, or just provide information of photos, you can contact appletreeshaliburton@gmail.com

Cargill said the project has four stages.

The first is the apple blossom tour. The second is for arborists, foresters, and Master Gardeners to assist in improving productivity of existing apple trees. The third is planting new apple trees. And the fourth is an apple press for local apple tree owners and production of local apple cider, dried apples and other apple products.

“It helps with food security in the area,” Cargill said, referencing other projects, such as SIRCH’s apple sauce project. She added it’s good for the climate, as it reduces the need for shipping fruit from outside the area.”

Cargill said she’s received a “very positive” reaction to the tour, and the next stages. “So, I’m really happy about that. It’s neat.” She added with the other apple-related projects, “this is a nice extension of that.

“The idea is just for us to have better selfsufficiency in terms of food production, new opportunities for businesses in terms of product line, and also in terms of tourism.”

Cargill is excited to see where the research leads.

“I think the scientists and Master Gardeners, in the end, will probably figure it out. And, then, if we can find that variety, or that DNA, and continue with it somehow, we might have a really good apple industry in this area.”

Haliburton’s Corner Gallery kicked off its season May 20 with something different, according to manager Pamela Brohm.

“We’ve got wonderful artists in the area. We all recognize and know that, and it tends to be what we see exhibited here,” Brohm said. She added that often means landscapes because of the majesty of the Highlands.

“But we felt that it was time that there was something different offered in town, especially if we’re trying to build Haliburton as an arts destination. So, if you want to attract people who collect and are truly immersed or involved in art, then you have to offer them some variety.”

She believes between Evergreen CSD Gallery of Fine Art Photography, Rails End Gallery and Arts Centre and the Ethel Curry Gallery, along with Corner Gallery, there are four varied locations for people to visit now.

Brohm researched artists for their seasonopening exhibition in the hopes of bringing three artists together that complement each other.

“I arrived with these three artists for the first show.” They include David McClyment, Carol Forbes and Alyssa King.

McClyment has been showing his drawings professionally for almost 40 years. Forbes is a painter. King is a contemporary mixed-media artist.

Walking through the gallery, Brohm stops at one of King’s works, and says “she’s doing this kind of punky stuff. She told me ‘I like to create art with a message, and I like art to be inspirational’.”

Brohm added, “we have a really interesting collection of art work here. The prices are very reasonable for the size and the talent and the inspiration they have. For people who are really interested in art, developing their collections, or spreading it into different areas, they really should come and see what we have.”

There are another five shows slated for the season, and Brohm said they are, again, quite different.

“Our next show does have two local artists, and it does tend to be landscape, but a little bit different. And my third artist is doing landscape of a sort but in a totally different way. After that, it’s more abstract, more impressionistic.”

The Corner Gallery will also feature Rob Croxford. “He’s a very well-known sign artist. He travels around and collects pictures of vintage signs and then paints the vintage signs with added messaging.

“I looked at his work and I thought ‘I’m going to contact him but he’s probably not going to come here’, but, yes, he is.”

Beyond the Tradition ends June 19; followed by Landscapes from a Woman’s Perspective (Susan Hay, Wendy Wood, Ashley Turner) June 21-July 13; 2 Part Harmony (Blady & Van Mil) July 14-Aug. 10; Wild Water II (Byron Hodges) Aug. 11-31; Haliburton Art Blast (Croxford, Vanya Ryan) Sept. 1-20; and Mother Nature: We Share the Earth (Carole Finn) Sept. 22-Oct. 16.

For more information, visit the cornergallery.ca.

Ball Real Estate’s executive vice-president, Gareth Jones, said moving into Haliburton County “was a logical extension” of the business they already do across a large swathe of the region, from Lakefield, to Apsley, Norwood, Hastings, Peterborough and Bobcaygeon.

They held a grand opening at their new digs, at 199 Highland St. in downtown Haliburton, May 20.

Owner Greg Ball started Ball Real Estate Inc. Brokerage in Lakefield in 2017.

“My mother and I sold real estate out of another brokerage for 55 years together, 30 years for her, and 25 years for me,” Ball said. “And then we decided it was time to try it on our own. I have daughters coming up through the pipeline, and I thought I really don’t want to have to work for anybody except us, so we took the plunge.”

The real estate rush then saw the other offices open between 2017 and 2023.

Jones said the reason Haliburton County makes sense is, “we are extremely well known in the Kawartha area for waterfront, recreational, rural properties so it is a natural extension for us to come further west and further north.”

Ball said they had already been doing a lot of business in Haliburton County without a storefront.

“We’ve been actively looking for an office in Haliburton for four-plus years. It had to be the right location for us. It had to be from the lights (at Hwy. 118 and Highland Street) to the pizzeria.” He joked that, as the fourth real estate office on the main street, “you have real estate row.”

They have put together a team that includes some local faces with some local expertise. They include former JDH occasional teacher, Todd Sayles; long-time realtors Dagmar Boettcher and Donna McCallum, Dianne de Savoye, Adele Barry, and Jason Jarvis.

Jones said, “we don’t go into locations with the intention of getting agents to fill our office. We’re very selective about who we bring in.

“Our culture is very important to us. If you’re not into that fit whatsoever, chances are you are not going to be productive, and then you get a bad apple. We work very hard to protect that culture. My term is ‘playful professional.’ I think it’s so important our clients enjoy their experience with realtors.”

Ball and Jones said they love having offices in smaller towns and are always keen to be part of the communities they service.

“We’re always looking for communitybased participation,” Ball said. “We do make ourselves a presence everywhere we go. We are always looking for other opportunities to engage with the community. If events are coming up, we want to be on the mailing list, and check the list to see if it’s something of interest to us.”

Ball said they are also 100 per cent local. “We are not a corporation. Our money doesn’t go to the U.S. head office. Our money stays right here.”

Jones added, “we’re very proud 100 per cent of our dollars spent stay right here in our communities.”

Haliburton County non-profit Places for People (P4P) is turning to a tried and tested, old school fundraising formula to address new world problems surrounding housing affordability and availability across the region.

The organization is rolling out a community bonds program next month, with president, Jody Curry, recently telling The Highlander P4P is hoping to raise $850,000 to clear a handful of outstanding mortgages and private loans.

“This is a really big deal for us. While it would be a first-time thing in Haliburton County, non-profits the world over have used community bond initiatives to address issues in their communities,” Curry said. “This is not a donation, it’s an investment. Anyone who pays in will get their money back.”

There are three options for would-be lenders – investing a minimum of $1,000 locked in for three years, earning three per cent interest paid annually; $5,000 locked in for five years, earning four per cent interest; or $10,000 locked in for seven years, earning five per cent interest.

Curry said the first two options would see principal investments returned in full upon expiry of the bond, while the third option has a portion of the principal paid out annually.

“We wanted to include different options so anyone who wants to invest with us can do so. We’ve had a ton of interest already from people who want to form part of the solution to one of our community’s biggest problems,” she said, adding early commitments as of press time were around $70,000.

Curry noted the bonds would be secured by P4P’s existing assets, which she says are valued at around $2.5 million

The non-profit is partnering with Torontobased Tapestry Community Capital, which will manage the investments. Tapestry has more than 20 years of experience in the community investment space and has helped raise more than $100 million to support 59 projects nationwide, mostly in the renewable energy sector. Curry said they also have experience working with groups on affordable housing initiatives.

The bonds proposal has been in the works since 2018. Curry said P4P will be hosting several community workshops in June to float the idea to potential investors and explain the process. She’s hoping to reach the $850,000 goal by the end of September.

“This reminds me of what Haliburton County used to do – when the kids wanted an ice rink, the community came together to make it happen. Governments haven’t appropriately funded housing for 40 years, so we have to try and follow in those footsteps and do it ourselves,” she said, adding “buying into this program ensures your money stays right here in Haliburton County.”

P4P owns and operates five properties across the County, with 12 affordable housing units. While potential projects in Minden and on Wallings Road in Haliburton have fallen by the wayside in recent years, Curry remains hopeful at least one substantial development could soon be moving ahead.

Paul Wilson, owner of Harburn Holdings, pledged one of four lots fronting Grass Lake to P4P last year. Curry said it would come with commercial and residential components, totalling 16 units. A proposal to develop the property has been supported by Dysart et al and Haliburton County councils.

“We want to be ready… we hope this first offering will provide proof of concept for when we come to build. The Grass Lake development is going to be a multi-milliondollar project. We’re going to need to raise a lot of money to make that viable,” she said.

To learn more, visit placesforpeople.ca, email invest@placesforpeople.ca, or call 705-306-9191.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) is going to spend more money for less service and still be at risk of an emergency room closure under its consolidation plan, Minden ER lead, Dr. Bruno Helt, says.

In a May 18 interview, Dr. Helt said going to one ER, from two, obviously means less service.

He added despite HHHS CEO Carolyn Plummer saying consolidating to Haliburton will lessen the risk of a temporary ER closure, he’s not convinced.

As the scheduler of the Minden ER department, he said they had doctors signed up until the end of September and it was never at risk of closing this summer – unless the Haliburton ER were to close, in which the Minden ER doctors would not be able to safely handle the overflow of patients.

Dr. Helt said Plummer told County council at a May 16 meeting HHHS was in a similar staffing position at this time last year going into summer. He added that is when the prospect of short-notice, temporary closures was raised. If Haliburton is in a similar staffing position leading up to the June 1 consolidation, he is worried HHHS will be unable to fill all doctor shifts. The health care organization has already stated it is understaffed for June, July and August, though Plummer expressed confidence all shifts will be filled.

Plummer said on May 23, “HHHS is now in a better situation for physician staffing in the month of June than we were at this time last year. The anticipated temporary closures were as a result of nursing staff shortages. With the consolidation, HHHS has been able to adjust the nursing staff schedule to better match anticipated patient volumes, which decrease in the overnight hours. This will help to reduce the risk of temporary, shortnotice, unpredictable closures that would have had a significant negative impact on the community.”

Dr. Helt also thinks staffing will come at a premium, with doctors being incentivized to come to Haliburton. He further confirmed his Minden ER group will have to be paid out of their contracts. “They broke the contract for us. We’re supposed to have a 90-day notification period. They gave us six weeks.” Dr. Helt said it is not a consolidation of two hospitals and two physician groups since his doctors are not going to Haliburton

“It’s basically the Haliburton group still in a very vulnerable position, where they have to cover lots of shifts and Health Force is going be required to cover whatever they can’t, and Carolyn said that at the meeting, they’re working with Health Force, but it’s never a certainty.”

He noted they will be going from 60 to 90 shifts a month in Haliburton.

Dr. Helt went on to say, “I don’t see why it had to happen before the summer. I do believe it would have been better to happen after the summer. Was there a risk of a Minden closure by itself? No. Was there a risk of a Halliburton closure by itself? Yes.”

Dr. Helt said he and colleague, Dr. Dennis Fiddler, encouraged HHHS to involve the community in a decision of this sort.

“Because there are so many smart people.

You’ve got lawyers, businessmen, politicians, you’ve got all sorts of people who might have a different idea on how to tackle this problem. And why not put it out there to have them involved in this discussion as well.”

The group said, like much of the community, they only received the news in April. After getting through last summer and not hearing anything this spring, “I thought we were going to be in the same situation as last summer and they got through last summer. So, I thought okay, we’re in a new normal, and we’re just going to have to see how that goes.”

Dr. Helt said he did chat with community leaders and urged them to lobby to pause the decision, or get a temporary closure as opposed to a permanent one.

“If it’s shown Minden wasn’t this unstable department, and did have functionality, maybe it can be looked at again in October.”

However, he also said, “they still would have a significant challenge of finding physicians to fill those spots in the summer. Some of us might be able to pick them (shifts) back up but there’s going to be a lot more holes in that schedule.

“This shouldn’t have happened now. It shouldn’t have happened in the way that it happened. It should have had much more public engagement, community engagement. It should have had more physician engagement, saying this is what we have to do. How are we going to make this work? Nothing happened from September until April of this year. And there could have been a lot more work done to say ‘okay, guess what, this is what’s going to happen based on the information we have.”

Judy Paul is one of a handful of Highlanders trying to progress the idea of a universal basic income (UBI), believing it to be the key to eradicating poverty in one of Ontario’s hardest hit areas

Workshops in Minden in February and Haliburton May 10 attracted about 50 people and led to healthy discussion, Paul said, with most “quite supportive” of a UBI.

“In Canada, the rich are getting richer while the poor and middle class are stagnating. People are struggling and in a lot of cases they don’t know who to turn to, what to do,” Paul said. “Introducing a basic income can help so many people in so many ways – it can help women leave abusive relationships, it can help families put food on the table, inspire people to turn their lives around.”

The UBI concept has been around Canada for more than 50 years. A program, dubbed ‘Mincome’ was rolled out in Manitoba in the 1970s, replacing several family, youth and senior allowances for select families in Winnipeg and Dauphin. The program was jointly sponsored by the federal and provincial governments at a net cost of $645 million, running for four years before being scrapped.

Program costs pegged at $81B

Research in the decades since suggest the pilot was a success. Derek Hum and Wayne Simpson, then professors at the University of Manitoba, released a joint report in 1993 that found impacts to the labour supply were minimal. There was a reduction of one per cent of annual hours worked for men, three per cent for married women, and five per cent for unmarried women.

Health economist Evelyn Forget released a report in 2020, finding a reduction in hospitalizations due to accidents and injuries, fewer mental health diagnosis and an overall reduction in poverty.

The Dauphin and Winnipeg experiments were discussed at length by Paul at her workshops.

“That’s proof of concept that UBI works, it has a positive impact,” she said.

Haliburton County sits alongside Manitoulin Island as having the highest poverty rate in Ontario. According to statistics posted by the City of Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Poverty Reduction Roundtable, 17.2 per cent of the County’s population is considered low-income, while 18.5 per cent of children live in low-income households. Around half of the people who rent report spending more than 30 per cent of their income on shelter costs.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit estimated in a 2022 report that 10.9 per cent of households across the region are considered food insecure.

Paul pointed to the pilot launched in Ontario in 2017, where 4,000 people from Lindsay, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Brantford, and Brant County received benefits of $16,989 a year if they were single, and $24,027 a couple, as further validation a UBI can work.

A survey by the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) in 2020 found the initiative, which was scrapped by the newly-elected Ford government in 2019, led to significant decrease in stress, anxiety and other mental health issues of participants. Respondents reported the basic income helped them better manage their work and home lives.

In 2022, the office of the parliamentary budget officer said a basic income like the one piloted in Ontario would cost $81 billion to roll out nationally, with a net cost of $45 billion if existing federal anti-poverty spending were re-directed toward the basic income. It was estimated more than 7.5 million people would qualify to receive the benefit.

‘Need in Highlands significant’

Susan Hubay leads a Peterborough-based chapter of Coalition Canada, a group committed to advocating for basic income. Speaking with The Highlander, she said she’s encountered a lot of County residents in the eight years she’s spent working on the file, noting the need in the Highlands is “significant.”

“People cannot reach their potential if they’re struggling every day trying to keep food on the table or a roof over their head. We need something in Canada that covers those basic needs,” Hubay said. “We’re looking for a guaranteed income that will put people over the poverty line.”

A living wage in the County was pegged at $19.05 by HKPR in 2020, which works out to just over $37,000 per year on a full-time schedule.

Paul shared details of a report compiled by the BICN in 2021 that outlines three potential scenarios for UBI rollout. The first would see adults aged 18 to 64 qualify for a maximum of $22,000 per year if single, or $31,114 a couple, based on other earnings, at a cost of $134 billion.

The second would see all adults qualify for those amounts, at a cost of $187 billion. Option three would feature a universal benefit for all adults over the age of 18, receiving $22,000 regardless of family status or other income. This model would run $637 billion annually.

The authors, Chandra Pasma, an MPP in Ottawa West-Nepean, and Sheila Regehr, executive director of the National Council of Welfare, said the lowest income families would see their disposable income increase by more than 350 per cent, with poverty being almost eliminated.

Hubay said any UBI program would need to be a joint venture between the federal and provincial governments.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale doesn’t believe UBI is the answer.

“Canada is over $1 trillion in debt. Canada doesn’t have a lot of fiscal room… so the issue is, where are you getting the money from to pay for this?” he asked. “I’m open to supporting anything that will make the lives of people in the riding better, but there has to be a significant plan to [move forward] with something like that.”

Paul said she’s committed to the fight and is considering launching a Haliburton-based UBI group.

The Save Minden Ontario Emergency Room group is planning to seek a court injunction to stop the June 1 closure of the Minden ER.

At a rally at the Minden fairgrounds May 21, group leader Patrick Porzuczek introduced Jayson Schwartz, of Toronto-based firm Schwartz Law Partners. The long-time Minden cottager has, in turn, secured litigators, Ross Nasseri LLP, also of Toronto, to lead the fight.

Addressing hundreds at the rally, Schwartz said he and his wife have had a cottage on South Lake for more than 20 years and now spend 60-65 per cent of their time there.

In offering to work for free on the case, he added, “I have a great love of the community.” He said he specializes in corporate, commercial and real estate law, and is not a litigator, which is why he has brought Mark Ross and Justin Nasseri on.

“I have found us lawyers,” Schwartz told a clapping crowd. “They are remarkable young men who have an unbelievable reputation in the litigation field in Toronto.” Ross and Nasseri met with Schwartz and members of the Save group this past Sunday after the rally.

Schwartz added money donated through his law firm’s email address was being transferred to a trust fund May 23.

He also touched on possible outcomes for the fulltime and seasonal residents who came to donate money for food and drinks and lined up to support the legal challenge.

“Can we permanently stop the closure of this emergency room with litigation? I don’t believe we can, but I do believe we can stop it for June 1,” he said.

Lawyer: time to lobby Premier Ford

Schwartz added, “everybody talks about how HHHS didn’t consult with the community. Sadly, the law seems to say that they don’t have to.

“We have a lot of evidence we’ve put together that will give these lawyers the opportunity to bring an application for an injunction to basically stop this closure. I think that’s a shot and I think that’s where your money is going.”

He said the community has to “turn to other methodologies” to keep the ER open. He suggested establishing a committee of concerned citizens, including the mayor, to meet with Premier Doug Ford, to come up with a long-term plan.

“I say to Mr. Ford, sir, would you please look at what is going on in Minden. Hundreds and hundreds of people have shown up to support keeping their ER open, many of us from Toronto and the environs therein… there has to be a way.”

As the intermediary between the Save group and the litigators, Schwartz added, “I promise to make sure they don’t squander your money. I will make sure they apply it in the best way possible. And I will make sure that every dollar is accounted for. I have to sign every cheque as it goes out, so I am responsible in that regard.”

As of May 21, the community had already raised $50,000 of an estimated $100,000 retainer.

Mayor Bob Carter also spoke at the rally and explained that the township cannot be involved in the legal proceedings.

“There is a big difference between … what an individual can do and what a government can do. Any time government sues government, one, it takes a long time and, two, it costs a lot of money. So, we cannot be seen to be part of any legal action at this point.”

He said he can now talk to HHHS and government, but would lose that ability in the midst of a lawsuit. He added he was not ruling out future legal action by the municipality or County.

Carter renews calls for HHHS board to resign

Carter explained to the crowd why he asked for the HHHS board to resign during a May 16 County council meeting.

He cited his first reason as a lack of consultation by HHHS on the decision. He said HHHS didn’t talk to the doctors, the nurses and the people involved because they were worried about rumours.

He said the second reason was timing. “We want to do this in six weeks. We’ve been working this way for 30 years but in six weeks we’re going to change it all.”

Carter said his third reason was HHHS’ plan for June 1, saying it appeared to be, “we don’t have one yet. We’re going to be making it up over those next six weeks.”

Carter claims the board has failed in its fiduciary (trusting relationship) responsibilities. “They allowed this decision to go forward without any of the things that needed to be done.

“I don’t have the answer, and the plan required for delivering emergency services in all of Haliburton County. If I needed to come up with that answer, I’d have to consult a lot of people. I’d have to be talking to you (the crowd). I’d have to be talking to doctors. I’d have to be talking to nurses and all of the stakeholders, because only together can we develop a plan.”