A public bus service could be back on the menu for Haliburton County, with councillors at the upper tier directing staff to investigate an on-demand service model.

The issue has been debated for several years, with the most recent update coming in May 2024, when the lone bidder on a fixed route system between Haliburton and Minden quoted annual costs of $685,000 – plus gas and $45,000 in start-up money – to operate. Council opted against the contract.

Scott Ovell, the County’s director of economic development and tourism, brought a potential solution forward at an April 23 meeting. While previously, the County wanted to establish a route that ran eight to 12 hours per day, six days a week, Ovell feels the most realistic option is proceeding with an on-demand service.

“Over the course of the fall, staff have been monitoring other systems that have been implemented in rural Ontario… some of those did indicate they’ve seen some cost savings by not running on a fixed-route system and [buses] being empty,” Ovell said.

“They also felt it provided a better service option to get to some of the more remote areas in their jurisdictions,” he added.

Ovell said both the District of Muskoka and County of Wellington had recently revamped their transit systems, preferring a responsive model – one that runs when people need it, rather than all the time. He said a similar model has potential to meet the County’s needs, both in demand and cost.

A new RFP will be posted in mid-tolate May, Ovell said. In it, the County is looking for potential operators to provide a scope of work for delivering a responsive transit service, which he says “differs significantly” from the fixed-route model.

Any plan will need to ensure compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, identify service delivery options, routes, and cost, provide a detailed outline of proposed fares and service schedule, details on the type of bus they plan to utilize, information on booking methods, and a proposed date for implementation.

Ovell said staff has outlined the service must run at minimum five hours a day, five days per week. While an initial route will connect Minden and Haliburton, with mandatory drop offs at places like the Haliburton hospital and Minden Urgent Care Clinic, Ovell said there’s also an option for bidders to outline a model that would service the entire County – including Algonquin Highlands and Highlands East.

Some councillors concerned

Coun. Liz Danielsen said that piece is important as Algonquin Highlands “is not interested in paying for a service that’s only going to serve Minden Hills and Dysart et al.”

That irked councillors Murray Fearrey and Bob Carter – mayors of Dysart and Minden respectively – who said there are lots of things those two townships pay for that benefit residents of the two more rural municipalities. Danielsen later noted she was supportive of starting a service.

Carter felt it was important the County first establish a service and potentially expand later.

“It’s got to start somewhere. It’s never going to get to the outlying districts unless it starts at the centre,” Carter said. “We have to look at whether we’re here as Haliburton County, or we’re here as four individual municipalities.”

Coun. Cec Ryall, Highlands East deputy mayor, wanted more assurance over the cost and timeline for expanding the service beyond Minden and Haliburton villages.

“If we’re going to be looking at a 10-year [window before expansion] that’s only going to benefitting the two municipalities, that to me is not fair. There needs to be some kind of adjustment in the fee structure,” Ryall said.

County CAO Gary Dyke said there are many intangible benefits to establishing a service, noting it can help attract doctors and businesses to the area.

While there was no mention of anticipated costs, Ovell said, “I don’t think I would be here if I thought I was coming back with a tender for $685,000 again.” He said the County has $182,601 in a transit reserve and could tap into provincial money, via gas tax funding, once a service is operational. Funding is not available in year one, though Ovell said the County could get up to $194,543 in years two and three.

The director noted he has heard from interested parties, hoping that will mean more than one company puts a bid in. He told council he expects to deliver another report in July, where, armed with more information, there can be more debate over how and when the service will be rolled out.

“This is a starting point to build off. We’ll make sure what comes back is a detailed response that will articulate not only where the starting point is, but where the finished product would land, and how long that would take,” Ovell said.

“We can have more detailed discussions and work through what this could look like… what we’ve seen, particularly in rural Ontario, is that as technology has evolved, there are different models that could be operated more efficiently and more costeffectively,” he concluded.

Minden Hills has now been in a state of emergency for 32 days and while Hydro One says all accessible properties have had power restored in the weeks since the March 29 ice storm, mayor Bob Carter says the community’s issues are far from over.

In a public statement April 29, Carter said there are currently no plans to end the emergency given the community is facing significant flood risk.

“You may have seen on the news that Peterborough and others have lifted their state of emergency. Why is Minden still in [one]? Our response – water,” Carter said.

He said a pile-up of circumstances, such as higher than usual winter snowfall and an abnormally wet April, was starting to take its toll on the Gull River system, which flows through Minden village.

While the Burnt River system has peaked and is now receding to normal levels, Carter said the Gull was “basically full” as of April 29.

“The lakes above Minden are at capacity or over capacity,” the mayor said. “We started to work with Ministry of Natural Resources and Parks Canada well before the ice storm hit. Significant amounts of water were moved through the Gull River system to try to create capacity in the lakes above Minden in case of unusual weather patterns. However, the constant rains and snow melt have filled the lakes faster than we can move it downstream.

“Another complication is that the ice storm has left us with a fragile environment. There are many branches and trees that are easily disturbed. The streams and culverts are being blocked by debris from these trees, causing washouts and local flooding,” he added.

By staying in a state of emergency, Carter said the township can access more provincial money to assist with response and clean-up. Residents who suffered uninsured damages and financial loss can apply for support through the Ontario government while Minden Hills maintains the emergency measures.

With Environment Canada issuing a tornado warning for swathes of southern Ontario earlier this week, including Haliburton County, and more rain expected over the next few days, Carter said the township “needs to be especially vigilant to react to any consequences.”

Staff is still meeting with MNR and Parks Canada three times a week and will continue to do so through May until the flood threat subsides.

Carter indicated it will likely be some time before things are completely back to normal. Staff has started to clear road allowances and ditches of felled limbs and debris, while the mayor said Minden Hills will soon announce a new program, in partnership with the County, to assist residents removing debris from private property.

“Not everybody was affected equally by this storm. I ask for your patience and a continued spirit of generosity to assist your neighbours. Many hands make light work, and we will need many hands to clean up this mess and get Minden back to normal,” he said.

Should banks break, the township is offering sandbags and sand at the Minden Curling Club parking lot and Irondale Community Centre. Carter is reminding people to have 72-hour emergency kits at home just in case. Some suggested items include non-perishable food, water, batter-ypowered radio and flashlight, first aid kit, toiletries, cash, and warm clothing/footwear.

Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society (KHCAS) is doing a library roadshow, in hopes of recruiting more foster parents, visiting five branches between May 2 and June 12.

They will be in Stanhope May 2, Minden May 21, Gooderham May 27, Dysart May 30 and Cardiff June 12 – setting up for two hours. They visited Wilberforce April 30.

“We’ll talk to people and answer questions,” the KHCAS’ Barb Reay said. She noted people can go to the KHCAS Facebook pages for exact times. They also hope to get into farmers markets, and put flyers on community bulletin boards.

Reay said she’d been taking part in an Ontario-wide recruitment discussion group and is replicating what other CASs are doing They’re hoping to take advantage of places the public is going to. “It’s just really getting our face out there.”

She acknowledged there had been a lot of press about the KHCAS over the past year.

On Oct. 23, 2024, the provincial government appointed a temporary supervisor for the KHCAS, saying, “we no longer have confidence in the society’s ability to address its operational issues and growing deficit.” On the same day, the board of KHCAS announced they had tendered their resignations. Rosaleen Cutler has been appointed supervisor to oversee and operate the society.

Last summer, KHCAS announced plans to shutter its branch at 73 Victoria St. in Haliburton this year, and drop one full-time staff member, while committing to still offering its services across the County. They were talking to partners about accessing space elsewhere. The changes were to have taken effect for April 1, 2025 but there have been no updates.

The KHCAS attributed the deficit to years of funding reductions, increased costs, increased complexity of need, and the lack of services required by legislation within the funding allocation.

Reay said they are doing what they can to try to bring up their foster parent numbers. “Because we’ve had a steady decline in foster homes over the last few years.”

As of January of this year, the KHCAS had 35 open foster homes. In 2020, they had close to 100. “And the reasons I am being told are the pandemic, new legislation requirements, and the competitiveness of the OPRs (outside paid resource) in our area, as well as having an aging foster parent population. We had some really long-term amazing foster parents who have retired,” Reay said.

The organization is looking for all kinds of fosters. She said the compensation varies from $46 to $84 per child per day. She said parents are fully trained. They’re hoping to get 10 new families across the region. She said the goal is to keep kids within their communities so they don’t have to leave their supports. She said she has had inquiries from the Highlands.

Asked for what qualities candidates should have, Reay said, “patience and compassion.” It’s helpful if people have experience with children, but not necessary. She said people have to work as a team, “and be very understanding that the children’s families are always their families and our first, main objective is always to get kids back within their family home.

Addressing her supporters following defeat in Monday’s federal election, Liberal candidate Nell Thomas said she, her team, and supporters “have been victimized” throughout the five-week campaign.

In a speech delivered at Lindsay’s Olympia Restaurant, Thomas said she ran a “squeaky clean” operation, which culminated April 28 with 29,193 votes (38.7 per cent). She was the runner-up behind four-term Conservative MP Jamie Schmale, though the performance was the Liberals’ strongest in the riding in 25 years.

“We do not denigrate, we do not name call, we do not believe in fraudulent, or destructive, or illegal activity. But we have been victims of all the above,” Thomas said.

She claims her elections signs were heavily tampered with throughout the campaign, while team members, including herself, received death threats, were verbally abused, and physically intimidated by detractors.

This was happening even before a series of comments made by Thomas on a now-deleted X – formerly Twitter – account was made public last week, she claims.

In those messages, posted in 2023 and 2024, Thomas appeared to question why anyone would want to have children today, stating, “of necessity, a mother must be a climate change denier.”

While discussing an unknown issue, she appeared to target Canada’s older demographic, commenting that solutions “must include stop keeping ancients alive so long.”

In a video posted to her official election channels, Thomas said those comments were taken out of context, though apologized for the hurt her words may have caused.

“I want to make clear that my values remain rooted in respect, understanding, and justice. For those who know me, they know I am a person of strong morality. I am a physician who cares for patients of all ages across every stage of life, including end-of-life journeys. I help people find dignity, relieve suffering, and seeking peace when existence becomes too heavy to bear.

“I am also a lifelong environmentalist who cares deeply about the future we are leaving for our children. There is nothing more meaningful to me than caring for moms and their babies. I love the life force that drives us to create new generations,” she said.

Thomas said those comments were plucked from conversation threads involving multiple people, with no context provided. She felt it was a coordinated smear campaign.

“The issue is foreign interference, the extreme rightwing propaganda machine of disinformation,” Thomas said. “These are the threats to democracy that we must all work against right now.”

‘Our Power, Our Planet’ was the theme for World Earth Day this year, with Environment Haliburton! (EH!) drafting in a pair of Trent University student researchers to discuss the impacts of artificial light on the environment around Paudash Lake.

Ella Honey and Angus McBride are pursuing master’s degrees in freshwater ecology and spent some time in the Cardiff area last fall. The pair told an April 22 webinar their focus was on how light pollution affects the natural environment, wildlife, and human life on the lake.

They were approached by the Paudash Lake Conservation Association (PCLA) last year, with the group challenging them to investigate ways to reduce the effects of artificial light at night, or ALAN, Honey said.

“They identified light pollution as a concern with both ecological and atmospheric,” Honey explained, noting wildlife can be negatively impacted and displaced.

The students studied three locations on the lake in August and September and distributed a survey through PCLA membership. The case study involved assessing insect attraction to four types of white light, ranging from warm to cool. They found fewer insects were attracted to warm wavelength light, with numbers increasing through neutral to cool light.

“Using warm lights may reduce insect attraction,” McBride said, noting artificial light may affect the nocturnal behaviour of insects, impacting their interactions with cottages and their broader roles within the ecosystem.

McBride noted insects are a foundational part of the circle of life, particularly for aquatic creatures.

“Increased attraction to cottage properties reduces the number available to be eaten,” he said. “This impacts fish, birds, amphibians, leading to possible reductions in their populations.”

While the pair didn’t have hard numbers to show how many properties utilized bright lights on their property after dark, Honey said they observed, “many cottages with unnecessary outdoor lighting, contributing to scattered light.”

She said of the 72 people who responded to their survey, about two-thirds agreed or strongly agreed that artificial lights negatively impact the environment.

Humans impacted too

Honey said low-intensity, low blue-light emission LED and CFL lights are the least attractive type of lights and can negatively impact humans too.

“Blue light can disrupt our circadian rhythm,” Honey said, noting how our internal clock, responsible for releasing hormones and mood regulation, can be thrown off.

Research shows blue light can impact the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, by disrupting melatonin production and delaying sleep onset. While blue light is beneficial during the day for alertness, its exposure at night, especially before bed, can hinder sleep quality.

Honey and McBride said there are some ways to limit impacts – they recommend turning lights off whenever possible and utilizing motion sensors or timers. They also suggested shielding lights to reduce skyglow.

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has strict controls when it comes to artificial lights, especially in environmentally significant areas. Honey said the organization has many dark sky preserves in Canada – including Torrance Barrens Conservation Reserve near Huntsville, which was the world’s first permanently designated dark sky preserve.

“Towns around the preserve have established bylaws to minimize light pollution and preserve nighttime darkness for future generations,” said McBridge. “It would be sad if future generations grew up not being able to see the stars and the sky.”

Highlands East has a bylaw designed to reduce the negative impact of artificial light on wildlife and preserve the natural beauty of the night sky, while Algonquin Highlands and Dysart et al have policies regulating outdoor lighting and promoting responsible lighting practices.

Minden Community Food Centre (MCFC) manager Jean Munroe said things have never been busier at the Newcastle Street pantry, reporting an 18 per cent increase in demand through the first quarter of 2025, with Tina Jackson from Central Food Network reporting similar activity in Highlands East.

The figureheads from two of the County’s three major food bank operations told The Highlander, in an April 18 interview, that there’s been a “non-stop surge” in numbers stretching back to 2019.

According to Munroe, that’s putting considerable stress on the Minden food bank’s staff, volunteers, and bottom line. In 2024, the operation served 3,248 people, averaging 271 visits per month. Through January, February and March that total had reached 966 people – or 322 per month.

“It’s been six years of increase after increase after increase. I haven’t seen demand go down yet,” said Munroe, who celebrated her third year with the operation in February. “The big issue I’m hearing from people is rent. People are struggling to make ends meet and keep a roof over their head. Unfortunately, food is one of the first things people opt to go without.”

The recent ice storm had an impact, with some clients telling Munroe they lost all their frozen and refrigerated foods due to the prolonged power outage.

Jump in the Lake foodbank fundraiser set for May 17

After seeing just over 3,000 visits in 2023 – the first time the Minden hub crossed that annual threshold, Munroe said she’s preparing to hit another new milestone this year. With economic uncertainty stemming from the Canada-U.S. trade war, she feels things may get worse for those struggling before it gets better.

So, she and the MCFC board have decided to pivot. Beginning in mid-March, staff started sending clients home with three weeks’ worth of food, rather than the usual four, allowing the needy to visit more frequently.

It’s the second major transition in the past eight months, after the food bank, last summer, increased the amount of food people get each visit.

“We’re seeing the crunch everywhere – food is flying off our shelves faster than ever before. Trying to keep up with that is bringing its own challenges right now,” Munroe said, noting when she started the operation spent about $3,500 a month on food. Now, its bill is more than double that.

As a result, Munroe said the food bank is heavily reliant on community donations. More bins were set up across Minden last fall, which has helped keep non-perishables stocked – with 8,710 pounds collected so far this year.

Proteins and produce are more limited, though Monroe said some businesses, like Coneybeare’s Butcher Shop, have established programs where people can purchase things at cost, which is then donated.

“We’re getting lots of ground beef, which has been amazing,” Munroe said.

She’s also looking forward to the community garden at the fairgrounds reopening, which also helps.

Surging demand

Last year, CFN saw 4,128 visits to its food banks in Cardiff and Wilberforce, averaging 343 stops per month. Those numbers have increased slightly in early 2025, with CFN seeing 336 visits in January and 361 in February.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, Jackson estimates the operation is serving an additional 57 people – or 100 extra monthly visits. The Wilberforce food bank assisted 25 more households this January compared to last, with an additional 19 in February. In Cardiff, five new households were welcomed in January and seven in February.

CFN also distributed over 900 frozen meals to people in January and February through its Community Cooks program.

“Poverty in Canada is spiraling out of control. In the last five years, visits to Canadian food banks have almost doubled,” Jackson said.

In 2023, CFN was able to buy a cargo van, which Jackson said has allowed the local food banks to access reserves from bigger facilities in Belleville, Peterborough, and Lindsay. Last year, that brought 235,299 pounds of food valued at approximately $750,000 to the County.

That’s brought the facility’s monthly food spend way down, with Jackson saying CFN spent $2,200 in January. Before, she said they would have spent “considerably more.”

While she didn’t have numbers, Judy MacDuff, who runs the 4Cs Food Bank in Haliburton, said demand has been “a lot higher” through the first quarter of the year. She registered four new clients in a single day April 17.

In 2024, the site registered 2,213 visits, assisting 2,726 adults and 1,109 children, which MacDuff said was up from 2023.

“We need to see food prices come down and incomes go up… if it wasn’t for the Lily Ann, we wouldn’t be able to operate [at current levels]. It pays for our rent, heat, hydro and other things we need,” MacDuff said. “Donations [to the food bank] go directly to purchase food.”

Jump in

MCFC and CFN are partnering again this year for Jump in the Lake, scheduled for May 17. The annual event challenges people to get pledges before jumping in a local waterbody on the day.

It raised $11,500 last year, with Jackson hoping to eclipse that total this time around. As of press time, MCFC has 12 people registered, raising $2,000, with CFN at nine participants and $1,950 raised.

This will be the first time Jump in the Lake doesn’t run alongside the same-named Coboconk initiative, which happens May 3.

Munroe said this was done to try and encourage more cottagers to get involved. There will also be prizes for top individual fundraisers, Jackson noted. Munroe said she’ll be taking a dip in the Gull River this year, with Jackson diving into Halls Lake.

“We want this to be fun – something people can have a little competition with. Our organizations are facing lots of challenges and struggles right now. So get together, talk to your neighbours, form a team and help make a positive impact in our community,” Jackson said.