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Boundless revving up engines for takeoff

By
Lisa Gervais
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The main character, Betty. Photo by Samantha Falco

Kate Campbell’s 10-year odyssey to bring the story of Second World War female pilots to the big screen is about to land.

The short film version of Boundless is nearing completion and Campbell, from Haliburton, is in the process of shopping it out to film festivals around the world.

It’s one step in a much larger project to eventually produce a miniseries, Campbell told The Highlander in an interview. “We’ll start submitting to festivals this week, though we still may be tweaking sound and finishing the titles and credits until the end of September,” she said.

It will then begin its festival tour wherever it is accepted. Most festivals are now online due to COVID.

“It would have been nice to have had a proper in-person premiere, which we will still have when it’s safe to do so, but I’m embracing online because it’s time for the piece to get out into the world now, and because it also has the potential to be seen by more people through festivals online.” Campbell said they’ll use it as a pitch for the larger version of the project.

It’s been more than a decade of interviewing, travelling, writing and researching to get to this stage, Campbell said.

Being from from Haliburton, it was important for her to include the County in this production. Tammy Rea is one of the producers and Anabelle Craig, Joey Varga and Hannah Sadlier helped on set. The Haliburton County Folk Society and Nick Russell assisted with the soundtrack [see next week’s Highlander] and there’s been financial support from the Haliburton County Development Corporation and the Haliburton Legion.

Campbell said she’s very excited to share the film and everyone’s hard work with the world, and ready for the next Boundless adventure.

The project was inspired by her grandmother, Betty Greply (nee Ward), who became a pilot to conquer her fear of heights in the 1950s at Buttonville Airport behind her husband’s back. She

was a member of the Ninety-Nines Flying Organization, which began in 1929, and where Amelia Earhart was a president.

Dini Petty plays the older version of the lead character, Betty. The Canadian broadcast icon was the first woman in the world to pilot a helicopter while broadcasting over the radio at the age of 23.

“My grandmother and Dini flew out of Buttonville at the same time in the late 60s and early 70s,” Campbell, who is a student pilot and member of the Ninety-Nines, added.

Between 1942 and 1944, more than 1,000 female pilots flew a collective 60 million miles in service in a specialized training program to free the male pilots for battle. The program was based out of Sweetwater, Texas and was headed by famed aviatrix Jaquiline Cochran.

“As the war was ending, the women were abruptly disbanded, denied military status, shamed for taking the jobs of men returning from war, and were forced to pay their own way home,” Campbell said.

“It’s a really important untold story that was not in our history books, so being able to share this education is significant.”

Pandemic rocks Wilberforce Curling Club plans

By
Joseph Quigley, Local Journalism Initiative Repoter
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The Wilberforce Curling Club has cancelled its season due to COVID-19. File photo.

The Wilberforce Curling Club has cancelled its season due to the pandemic.

In a letter to members Sept. 11, club president Gord Fitch wrote about the decision to call off their 2020/21 season entirely, the first local club to do so.

Fitch said the executive met earlier this month and decided they could not proceed given the difficulties caused by the pandemic.

“After an extensive and exhaustive debate about the potential risks and liabilities we face as a club, it was overwhelmingly decided that we can not move forward successfully and responsibly with curling this year,” Fitch said in the letter.

Curling clubs across the province have grappled with whether to proceed this season with restrictions. The neighbouring Halliburton Curling Club and Minden Curling Club both put it to membership votes, with Haliburton deciding to go ahead and Minden deciding to cancel its season for now, with plans to re-evaluate in December.

The Wilberforce club uses a municipal facility and Fitch said between regulations, limited membership dues and increased costs, the season would be severely hampered.

Other concerns included social distancing restrictions, limited social interaction and the possibility of closing mid-season due to an infection.

“As an elected executive, it is our responsibility to look out for the best interest of our membership and the financial success of our non-profit curling club,” Fitch said.

Fitch added the club would help co-ordinate, but not sponsor, some winter events to help keep people active and in shape for next season.

Fundraiser goes ahead

Meanwhile, the club and the Wilberforce FUNRaising Group are partnering to go ahead with an annual birthday calendar fundraiser to help both of their suffering coffers.

The groups are selling the custom calendars which highlight people’s birthdays, with the proceeds split between the two.

FUNraising Group member Kathy Rogers said the pandemic has curtailed their usual fundraisers, but this was one they felt they could still do. She added though the curling club is not running, they will still need funding.

“Our people are hurting too much, we need to do this,” Rogers said. “They can’t hold curling at all – it’s going to be building the club back up again.”

The calendars are $10 each and available by contacting 705-448-1285 or 705-935- 0098.

“It’s good community fun,” Rogers said. “And all the proceeds go back into the community.”

Beloved pastor remembered

By
Joseph Quigley, Local Journalism Initiative Repoter
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Lighthouse Pentecostal Church pastor Doug Ross was mourned by his community after passing away at the age of 65. Photo submitted.

Several days before he passed, Haliburton’s Lighthouse Pentecostal Church pastor Doug Ross was doing what he loved: sharing the word of God.

Though the pandemic meant he had to do it from a basement via live stream, he continued to reach out to his community, and they watched. His wife, Kim Ross, said he often attracted more than 100 viewers, with people tuning in from outside Haliburton.

“I’m a preacher that preaches about the love of Jesus Christ,” Ross said in his final sermon. “Sometimes people accuse me of preaching about that too much, but can you preach about the love of Christ too much? I don’t think you can.”

Ross’s family and community are mourning his loss after he died July 29 at the age of 65. The long-time pastor, businessman and school board trustee is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren.

Kim Ross described him as a very outgoing person who touched the lives of many people.

“Had a fantastic sense of humour. I think pretty much anywhere he went, he would just kind of brighten up,” Ross said.

Ross said her husband grew up poor, raised by a single mother. During his last sermon, the pastor described himself as a lost, “nasty person” in his youth.

“All I could think of was survival,” Ross said. “I said ‘God, there must be more to life than this. If that’s what life is really like, it’s really not worth living.’ Within a matter of two days, God sent somebody to talk to me about him and share Jesus Christ with me. Within less than a week, I gave my heart to Jesus Christ.”

That person was a pastor, Kim Ross said, who convinced the then 18-yearold to come to church, where he was moved. She said they met at a camp near his home in New Brunswick soon afterward and started a whirlwind romance.

They originally met in August and were married by February of next year as teenagers.

“We only knew each other a short time,” she said. “But we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our life together.”

The two started a family in Ontario. While Doug Ross began working as a pastor in Oshawa, he soon started selling cars. They moved to Whitby and after going through a difficult financial crunch, they got into the food business.

The family began selling peanut brittle made with an old family recipe. A successful Christmas season run at Zellers got them a recurring business. It would become Granny Williams, a confectionery manufacturing business that would go for 30 years, operating at many Zellers locations.

They also opened a café in downtown Oshawa, which Ross said was an important hotspot in the city. While selling cars, her husband also struck a friendship with famed Toronto Maple Leaf Eddie Shack. That eventually led to him owning two restaurants under the Eddie Shack’s Donuts and Snacks brand.

She said Shack would often invite Ross to hang out with other Leafs alumni at the famed Hot Stove Lounge and when pictures for autographs would go around, Shack insisted Ross sign it.

“People always wondered who this guy is,” Ross said. “There was a lot of laughs with Eddie Shack.”

Ross was also civically engaged, acting as a trustee for 12 years with the Durham District School Board. One of his colleagues, Patty Bowman, described his dedication to his constituents during Ross’s celebration of life Aug. 7. She also recounted his efforts in working through the implementation of Canada’s first modified school-year system, balancing out holidays throughout the year.

“He was tenacious about sitting down across the room … trying to figure out where we could find our common ground and he would never give up,” Bowman said. “Because when we agreed, everything shifted and moved in our communities and we saw it happen.”

His passion for pastorship remained central in his life. Kim Ross described his evangelist-style that moved a lot of people.

“He had such a love for people, and he has so much patience with people,” Ross said. “He had so much energy for life. He loved God with all his heart.”

But his health suffered with a stroke and though he survived, she said it was a difficult, year-long recovery. They chose a slower life after that, moving to Fenelon Falls and eventually Haliburton to take on pastorship at the Lighthouse Pentecostal Church in 2012.

He volunteered for various boards and the local Rotary Club. Kim Ross said he has touched the lives of so many people, with hundreds of messages flooding in recent days about all the good he did.

“It’s been a fascinating life,” Ross said. “He didn’t actually just live 64 years, he lived 80 years or more because of the amount of living that he did.”

Despite everything the pastor achieved, in his last sermon, he downplayed it compared to what was most important to him.

“I don’t think I’ve done a lot of great things in life. I’ve had some small accomplishments,” Ross said. “The most precious thing that I have in my life is that Jesus Christ loved me.”

Planned power outage Sept. 27

By
Lisa Gervais
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A planned power outage Sept. 27 will affect 6,000 Hydro One customers in Minden and surrounding areas.

In a release, Hydro One said the outage is required for crews to safely complete upgrades to local equipment and perform scheduled maintenance.

They anticipate the power will be out between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Affected areas include: Galway, Minden, Somerville, Minden Hills, Snowdon, Glamorgan and Cavendish.

Hydro One said the work will “help ensure a safe and reliable supply of electricity to homes and businesses.”

They elaborated they will install three smart switches, which is equipment that helps to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages, while limiting the amount of customers affected.

Crews will also replace 43 poles that have reached their expected service life with a mix of wood and composite poles, which help to deter woodpeckers. Additional crews and equipment are being brought in to complete as much local area work as possible during this outage.

They provided some tips:

  • Make sure your appliances are in the off position, such as the stove.
  • Make sure your devices, such as a smart phone, and extended battery packs are fully charged.  
  • Keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. Use a cooler with ice for items you’ll need during the planned outage.
  • Consider filling jugs of water to use for drinking and cooking if you have a generator.
  • If you plan to use a generator, remember to use it in a dry area outdoors away from any open windows, doors and vents. Visit the Electrical Safety Authority at esasafe.com for more tips.
  • If you have a bathtub, consider filling it with water before the planned outage begins. You can use the water and a bucket to fill your toilet tank to be able to flush.

In order to ensure our crews can continue working for all Ontarians, we ask that customers respect physical distancing.

Affected customers are notified via auto dialer and can visit Hydro One’s outage map or call 1-888-664-9376 for additional information.

Seasons change

By
Jack Brezina
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There is always a tinge of sadness when Labour Day comes around on the calendar.

The holiday weekend marks the end of one of the last flings of the summer. The colour showing on some of the trees and the light fading too soon in the evening, the cooler temperatures, even hints of frost to come … yes summer is indeed just about done. The boat trailers and packed cars heading south Labour Day weekend, a reverse of the parade north in May, provide more signals of summer’s end. Those who haven’t closed up their cottages, know that the next visits will require sweaters and windbreakers with the bathing suit folded and tucked away for another year.

It was a summer in which the extra layer of concern brought on by COVID-19 made things a little trickier for everyone. While cottages provided ideal hide-aways, places to avoid the crowded cities, gatherings in town or with neighbours were tentative and reserved. Masks were de rigueur as shoppers lined up outside stores, for the most part, six feet separating one patient customer from the next, waiting for the nod from the door monitor, grabbing a freshly wiped cart and following the arrows. Restaurants pushed their service out of doors, commandeering the fresh air, while inside, tables carefully distanced, offered another option when the weather was not conducive to alfresco dining.

Municipal council sessions, church services, family get-togethers and all manner of meetings moved on-line, with Zoom taking on a whole new meaning … and it appears those sorts of gatherings are destined to remain in that format for some time to come.

Missing from the summer scene: just about every activity and event that makes this a vibrant community. Without live theatre, opera, festivals, agricultural fairs, and outdoor events predicated on a large gathering, the vibe in the community wasn’t quite the same. Attempts to bridge the gap with drive and boat-in events had some appeal, but fell short of the full-blown events. Children of the internet age were able to discover, with their parents, the magic of movies on a big outdoor screen while curled up with their family in cars. The artists of our community continue to be productive and present their work individually or as part of weekend tours.

Labour Day also heralds a return to classes for students of all ages. New beginnings and exciting challenges await them and their parents this year, as they juggle the staggered opening schedule, many new rules and wrestling with the decision to go back to a classroom or continue with at home, on-line education. There appear to be no easy answers.

As summer fades into the most colourful season of the year, there is another tinge of worry in the air. So far, we have confronted this pandemic during a period of hospitable weather. With the arrival of winter, the social distancing and restrictions of large gatherings will increase the isolation that many have found emotionally draining even in good weather. Reaching out to neighbours and friends, looking for opportunities and contacts now, will help ease the burden we will all feel as the fight continues through the coming winter. We have come this far and can find common cause as we forge ahead together

Minden Hills projects ‘sizeable’ budget surplus

By
Lisa Gervais
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File photo.

The Township of Minden Hills is projecting a sizeable surplus at year end, director of finance/treasurer Lorrie Blanchard told the Sept. 10 committee of the whole meeting.

Reporting up to July 31, 2020, she said the municipality was showing a $918,452.23 overall surplus. Of that, the general surplus is $767,195.43 and the water and wastewater department surplus $151,256.80.

She said overall expenditures are below anticipated 2020 budgeted amounts due to a number of factors.

They included wages and benefits, at $322,530.

“And that is due to positions that we still continue to try to recruit for,” Blanchard said.

There was also a significant amount of money not spent on major equipment purchases, repairs and maintenance, and capital, materials, supplies, and building repair and maintenance, totaling $364,100 combined.

Blanchard noted various revenues are also below anticipated 2020 budgeted amounts due to COVID-19, such as not accepting landfill items for a period of time during the pandemic, impacts on building permits and planning application fees; decreased interest due to outstanding taxes; cancellation of events and programs; and the arena closure this year.

She said COVID-related costs were about $82,935, primarily for wages and benefits. However, she noted that had been offset by Provincial Safe Restart Agreement Funding.

As far as revenue from taxation, she added, “folks have decided to go ahead and pay their taxes for the most part, which is very good news.”

Last year, the township ended 2019 with a $528,000 surplus.

“Short of something significant presenting itself that would incur significant expenditures to the township … we’re looking at another sizeable surplus I would say for 2020,” Blanchard said.

Coun. Bob Carter commented, “one of the things is obviously our wages and benefits. We still have vacancies and in fact we have more vacancies [since the report] so that number is not going to be used up and will continue to increase.”

He added, “one of the things we have to be careful of for 2021 is the fact we can’t have our normal projects plus all the projects that we missed in 2020. We probably just don’t have the physical manpower and administrative power to be able to handle all those projects, so we’re really going to have to take a hard look at what is realistic. There’s no use budgeting for X million dollars’ worth of projects when you don’t have the manpower to be able to accomplish that. It just becomes bad budgeting.”

Opera Studio ‘love letter’ concert cancelled

By
Joseph Quigley, Local Journalism Initiative Repoter
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Tenor River Guard and soprano Lauren Margison will perform at an outdoor Highlands Opera Studio concert on Sept. 20 in Haliburton. Photos submitted.

Highlands Opera Studio’s 2020 season was “an enormous success” despite the pandemic, says Valerie Kuinka.

She added they are planning an outdoor concert Sept. 20 to thank and support the community. However, the concert was cancelled Sept. 19 due to the province increasing limits on private outdoor gatherings, decreasing it from 100 to 25.

HOS invites up to 25 emerging operatic talents to the Highlands each summer to train with leading opera professionals from around the world and perform in several local concerts. The program is operated by internationally-acclaimed Canadian tenor Richard Margison and former Metropolitan Opera stage director Kuinka, who serve as artistic director and general/co-artistic director, respectively.

The program ran online this year, with 17 participants. However, they could not train in Haliburton, and there were no performances to raise money.

Kuinka said the pandemic brought operatic careers to an abrupt halt and is causing significant psychological damage, but also gave participants time to slow down and reflect.

“The priority was on positivity, clarifying and realigning personal career goals, building skills, and looking toward making positive change through opera,” said Kuinka.

Conversations focused on topics such as personal and professional reflection and growth, emotional health, community, adaptability, systemic racism in opera, and vision for the future of professional opera. As part of that future, HOS also officially launched the HOS Racial Equity Advisory Council, which had been several months in the making.

Participant Geoffrey Schellenberg, a baritone from Vancouver, said in a Facebook video that HOS provided “absolutely incredible resources” that changed everything about his singing for the better.

“This is more important than ever now when performing is very limited,” said Schellenberg. “[To] have something that is as inspiring and as helpful as Highlands Opera Studio really makes a difference in all of its participants’ lives.”

The success extended to funding, where the pandemic had a lesser effect than it might have done. This was in part due to existing and new sponsors and supporters such as BMO Financial Group, the Azrieli Foundation, and Haliburton County Development Corporation, but also due to very dedicated private donors, many of them local. HOS is extremely grateful to all, said Kuinka.

The concert was planned as a “love letter” to the community because the usual performances and community interaction are “a very important half” of the program and they were deeply missed, said Kuinka.

“This little moment is going to be a wonderful opportunity to reconnect in a small way with the community.”

Soprano Lauren Margison and tenor River Guard was to perform a variety of music styles with pianist Stéphane Mayer . at the Head Lake Park bandshell in Haliburton.

Although the concern is not going ahead, the studio said it would record much of the music that was going to be performed and post it in social media.

“We will continue to miss all of you and will bring this concert to you as soon as possible!” HOS said in an email.

HOS has been operating since 2007. The program is valued at up to $15,000 per participant and is free to Canadians. The housing costs generally charged to international participants may be offset by sponsorships.

This season’s participants have been invited to return next year. To learn about 2021 performances and buy passes, visit highlandsoperastudio.com.

If a tree falls

By
Lisa Gervais
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Does the County of Haliburton need a new shoreline preservation bylaw?

Yes.

From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2020, the County of Haliburton has received 114 shoreline tree preservation bylaw property complaints. That’s more than double the concerns from last year.

To be crystal clear, the County has a shoreline tree preservation bylaw. However, staff and councillors are now working on a new, far more reaching, shoreline preservation bylaw.

According to the County, every complaint has been followed up with the owner.

We’ve been told staff have completed 199 site visits. Some sites require return visits. There have been 17 stop work orders. There have been five tickets issued. There are currently 20 sites where staff are working with owners to remediate damage and replant. And, there are 15 sites where remediation and tree planting is completed. There have been 11 forestry permits issued.

The County has a contract with Kestrel Forestry to provide bylaw enforcement for the shoreline tree preservation bylaw. Going forward, staff have been asked to provide ideas in the draft 2021 budget on the impacts of this new bylaw and what that looks like will be determined by the final content of a bylaw, should it come into effect.

The folks at the County would not say that people are rushing out to alter their shorelines because they know this new bylaw is in the works. However, they think that due to COVID, more people are around and paying attention to what their neighbours are doing. In addition, more people have time at their property to do work they may have put off.

Regardless, the numbers are high and should be a concern in a County that relies heavily on the health of its lakes for a thriving economy.

Is the County going about this new bylaw in the right way?

That is a bit more questionable. Michele Bromley of Boshkung Tree Service doesn’t think so. In a letter to the editor in today’s Highlander, she said they only found out about the agenda item on Sept. 7 for the Sept. 9 meeting and it was not handled in the way they said they expected it to be. She said they didn’t anticipate councillors to go through it line-by-line.

County Coun. Andrea Roberts said it’s probably the most controversial thing that the County has put forward in its current term of office. As such, the councillors have to make sure they are fully engaged with the Haliburton County Home Builders Association and the group of six landscaping businesses that have banded together to fight for what they believe should be a more sensible bylaw.

While councillors had foreshadowed a line-by-line review, and could argue their approach should have been anticipated, they must communicate with the affected parties beyond what would be considered normal protocol. Otherwise, they open themselves up to criticisms of a lack of transparency.

What the builders and landscapers need to know, or be told, is that the line-by-line review will deliver a final draft bylaw, which will then be presented to the public for its input. It is not the end of the process. Nevertheless, one should never presume that the public knows its way around the machinations of municipal government. For the most part, it does not.

So, should the County have a new shoreline preservation bylaw? Yes. Could County councillors and staff do a better job of working with the HCHBA and landscapers? Yes.

To be crystal clear once again: an updated draft of the bylaw is expected at the next council meeting Sept. 23. We encourage all interested parties to log onto the Haliburton Civic Web site and follow the prompts to find the meeting agenda. Fair warning: sometimes they are only posted a few days before the meeting. If you have any thoughts or concerns, contact your councillors. That’s why you elected them.

Korean War veterans honoured

By
Joseph Quigley, Local Journalism Initiative Repoter
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Highlands East Korean War veterans James Lee and Chuck Viner (left) were honoured by Korean Veterans Association of Canada Unit 26 project director HooJung Jones Kennedy Sept. 11. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

After putting his life on the line to protect South Korea during the Korean War, Tory Hill resident James Lee was honoured with an Ambassador for Peace Medal Sept. 11.

Government, Legion and Korean Veterans Association officials gathered at the Wilberforce Legion branch to honour the 92-year-old. Korean Veterans Association of Canada Unit 26 project director HooJung Jones Kennedy bestowed him with the commemorative medal, issued by the Republic of Korea to those who served there during the war.

Lee said he was surprised to be awarded.

“Lot of people probably deserve it more than I do,” Lee said. “Guess I’m lucky to be able to receive it.”

Lee was honoured alongside fellow Highlands East Korean War Veteran Chuck Viner, who previously received his medal during a Korean War revisit program in 1986. Dignitaries gave speeches and discussed the history of the Korean War and the 26,791 Canadians who served during it.

Korean Veterans Association of Canada member and retired Major Don Kennedy said the medal is made with pieces from the barricades at the demilitarized zone splitting North Korea and South Korea.

“What it signifies is James and Chuck and other veterans, they formed a barrier with their bodies across the Korean peninsula,” Kennedy said. “By doing so, they saved South Korea.”

Federal dignitaries also offered letters of appreciation, including Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale and Senator and honorary patron of the Korean Veterans Association of Canada Heritage Unit Yonah Martin, who was unable to attend in person.

Viner said it means a lot to see more recognition for the conflict, which occurred between 1950-53 with 16 United Nations countries coming to aid South Korea to repel an invasion by North Korea, eventually ending in an armistice.

“When I first left the military way back in 1953, the Korean War, nobody knew about it. It was so close to the Second World War, that the Korean War was kind of a non-entity by comparison,” Viner said. “For a long time, it wasn’t even considered to be a war, it was a police action.”

Both veterans described the difficulties of being on the front lines. That included near-death experiences, with the sides battering each other with shells. In total, 516 Canadians died in the conflict, with 1,558 wounded and 21 missing in action.

“It was crazy sometimes,” Lee said.

“It was frightening,” Viner said. “A lot of times at night I’d be on guard duty and I’d be alone, it was scary. You didn’t know what was around.”

But the ceremony recognized that sacrifice, and the difference it made to the people of South Korea.

“I’m just happy to have been there and did my bit,” Viner said. “I’m just glad I was a part of it.”

Police investigating after Pride flags stolen

By
Joseph Quigley, Local Journalism Initiative Repoter
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Pride flags hang outside the Prettypaws Pet Boutique and Spa. Police are investigating after other Pride flags were stolen from the business earlier this month. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

Police are investigating, and the community outraged, after a Haliburton business owner had his Pride flags stolen.

Prettypaws Pet Boutique and Spa owner Christopher O’Mara is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the charging of individuals seen on camera outside the business Sept. 6.

O’Mara posted videos Sept. 7 showing two people taking Pride flags but leaving the Canadian flags also hanging up. O’Mara said it is not the first time he has experienced discrimination during his past seven years in Haliburton for being openly gay, from nasty letters to having a slur spray-painted on his windows.

“It was important to me to call this out publicly because I truly believe if you just ignore this sort of behaviour, it will continue,” he said. “Whether it was hate motivated or not, it was vandalism and it isn’t welcome in our town.”

A video from outside Prettypaws Pet Boutique and Spa in Haliburton Sept. 6, showing people stealing the Pride flags hanging there. The video was originally posted to Facebook. Video via Christopher O’Mara.

The post went viral, attracting 193 comments and 321 shares, with most expressing support for O’Mara and outrage at the perpetrators. The videos have more than 23,000 views combined.

O’Mara said he hopes this sends a message about how this behaviour is unacceptable.

“Haliburton is a safe and welcoming community and no one should be concerned about being harassed. I think it has shown that our community is supportive and full of allies. I hope it can reduce or eliminate further instances of homophobic behaviour.”

He added despite those bad experiences, Haliburton is still a fabulous community to live in as an LGBT+ person.

“Haliburton is vibrant with art and culture – pre-pandemic, anyhow – and is full of allies,” O’Mara said. “We mustn’t let a bad apple spoil the lot.”

Central Region OPP posted a video about the incident on its social media channels and asked for any information people have.

Haliburton Highlands OPP Const. Amanda Gilbert said they are investigating the theft.

“Any information in relation to the identification of the individuals seen in the (O’Mara) video would be appreciated,” Gilbert said. “With respect to whether or not this was a hate crime, we cannot say as it is still under investigation.”

O’Mara’s video appears to show two women stealing the flags at night with faces covered, ripping them from the poles.

Anyone with information is asked to contact OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. In his post, O’Mara said he is sick of being bullied in his home.

“When hateful acts happen, I believe the message that they won’t be tolerated can be quickly proliferated,” O’Mara said. “I want to express my gratitude to Haliburton, once again, for their love and support.”

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