Janis and Joe Blimkie are thankful for the help of Good Samaritans and emergency responders after escaping from their wrecked vehicle Jan. 6.

The pair’s vehicle was totalled after skidding on ice on a tight bend on Barry Line Road, Joe Blimkie said. The vehicle fell into a ditch and rolled, ending up upside down in a pond while water started to fill it.

Blimkie said they could not recall the rolling, only a rough bump as the vehicle fell into the ditch.

“Next thing we knew, we were upside down inside the car. Neither of us were panicked,” he said. “We knew where we were, we knew we were probably in water.”

The two found themselves in a difficult position, with airbags deployed and little light getting inside. Blimkie said he was on his back, the steering wheel above him, with his leg wedged up underneath it. The car’s emergency alarm system was not able to connect to make a call, Blimkie said, nor could he connect as he used his cellphone.

With the water engulfing him up to his chin, Blimkie said he began to worry.

“Started to panic then, thinking how long we’re going to be here,” Blimkie said. “There was no one else on the road.”

Fortunately, a metal pole from a wire fence punctured through the window of the vehicle on the passenger side, allowing Janis Blimkie to climb out of the vehicle.

“It was a real comfort to see her get out. When she got out she was standing up to her waist in water and then she assisted me,” he said. “I was able to twist my body around and go over into the other side.”

Teresa and Darren Johnston came upon them about two-to-three minutes after the crash, and Blimkie said they took quick action. They called 9-1-1, provided warm blankets, called neighbours for assistance and then drove couple to their home to warm up.

“We were unbelievably grateful. We would have been there 20 minutes, half-an-hour, depending on who is going to use that road that afternoon,” Blimkie said.

The cold of the water only set in after they exited, he said.

“I didn’t feel the cold when I was in the car lying in the water. It was when I got out that I really started shaking like I had never shaken before,” Blimkie said.

Emergency responders arrived on scene, including firefighters, OPP and EMS, Blimkie said. They were checked for injuries, but there was nothing major noticed at first, although they experienced bruising after a couple of days.

“Thank goodness, when you see the pictures of the car, it’s unbelievable that no one really got hurt,” he said.

The Hamilton couple, who were visiting their cottage in the Haliburton area, were able to rent a car to get back home.

Blimkie said they are grateful for all the people who helped them in their hour of need.

“Very, very, lucky, extremely lucky,” he said. “Thankful to the people up there that helped us out because they were a godsend to us.”

The Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association (HHOA) is expressing concern with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries (MNRF) cutting back involvement in the Haliburton Gold fish hatchery program. 

 HHOA director Dan Smith presented at the organization’s annual general meeting Dec. 2 about the issue. Smith said MNRF intends to pull back from harvesting eggs as part of the program, which stocks area lakes with the native lake trout species.

  Smith said the MNRF has previously managed the harvesting of the eggs with its staff and equipment. Starting next year, that will fall unto the HHOA fish hatchery, a change that has a lot of problems, he said. 

 “There’s a lot of cutbacks happening right now,” Smith said. “This is one that has hit us pretty hard here.” 

 In an emailed statement, MNRF media relations officer Maimoona Dinani said the change will commence in the fall of 2019 and is “to bring consistency in the ministry’s approach to wild egg collection.” 

 “The ministry will continue to support the Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association in building their knowledge and capacity consistent with the approaches of other community hatcheries so they can fully take on this role next year,” Dinani said in the statement. 

 The Halliburton Gold lake trout are genetically distinct from other lake trout in the province and has been designated a heritage species, according to the HHOA website. The trout is found in only a handful of lakes in Haliburton County.

  HHOA fish hatchery manager Randy Charter said the smaller size of the Haliburton Gold makes them well-suited to lake rehabilitation. The program started approximately eight years ago, he said, with Haliburton Gold eggs in the hatchery having a 60-70 per cent maturation rate, compared to about one in a thousand in the wild.

  Charter said the hatchery wants to see the program continue. But he added the HHOA having to harvest the eggs themselves represents an additional cost and poses other problems. 

 “What if we do it wrong? We pick the wrong time? That in itself can cause damage to the fish that we’re trying to harvest eggs for, so that’s hurting the population,” Charter said. “They’re the experts, let’s face it. You can’t just give people a crash course and say ‘you’re on your own.’” 

 Smith said the hatchery plans to continue to have a dialogue with the MNRF about the issue. 

 “This is a big initiative for Haliburton County, maintaining this strain of Haliburton Gold lake trout,”  Smith said. “We don’t want to drop it.”

  At the Jan. 8 County of Haliburton Tourism Committee meeting, the committee passed a resolution by Coun. Patrick Kennedy to recommend county council send a letter to the MNRF requesting the support to the HHOA be re-instated and a copy of the letter be provided to MPP Laurie Scott. 

 “We need to make sure too the letter lays the case very clearly and passionately,” committee chair Carol Moffatt said. “We don’t want to be responsible for the extinction of something that is a glacial relic.”

The Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association (HHOA) is expressing concern with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries (MNRF) cutting back involvement in the Haliburton Gold fish hatchery program.

HHOA director Dan Smith presented at the organization’s annual general meeting Dec. 2 about the issue. Smith said MNRF intends to pull back from harvesting eggs as part of the program, which stocks area lakes with the native lake trout species.

Smith said the MNRF has previously managed the harvesting of the eggs with its staff and equipment. Starting next year, that will fall unto the HHOA fish hatchery, a change that has a lot of problems, he said.

“There’s a lot of cutbacks happening right now,” Smith said. “This is one that has hit us pretty hard here.”

In an emailed statement, MNRF media relations officer Maimoona Dinani said the change will commence in the fall of 2019 and is “to bring consistency in the ministry’s approach to wild egg collection.”

“The ministry will continue to support the Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association in building their knowledge and capacity consistent with the approaches of other community hatcheries so they can fully take on this role next year,” Dinani said in the statement.

The Halliburton Gold lake trout are genetically distinct from other lake trout in the province and has been designated a heritage species, according to the HHOA website. The trout is found in only a handful of lakes in Haliburton County.

HHOA fish hatchery manager Randy Charter said the smaller size of the Haliburton Gold makes them well-suited to lake rehabilitation. The program started approximately eight years ago, he said, with Haliburton Gold eggs in the hatchery having a 60-70 per cent maturation rate, compared to about one in a thousand in the wild.

Charter said the hatchery wants to see the program continue. But he added the HHOA having to harvest the eggs themselves represents an additional cost and poses other problems.

“What if we do it wrong? We pick the wrong time? That in itself can cause damage to the fish that we’re trying to harvest eggs for, so that’s hurting the population,” Charter said. “They’re the experts, let’s face it. You can’t just give people a crash course and say ‘you’re on your own.’”

Smith said the hatchery plans to continue to have a dialogue with the MNRF about the issue.

“This is a big initiative for Haliburton County, maintaining this strain of Haliburton Gold lake trout,” Smith said. “We don’t want to drop it.”

At the Jan. 8 County of Haliburton Tourism Committee meeting, the committee passed a resolution by Coun. Patrick Kennedy to recommend county council send a letter to the MNRF requesting the support to the HHOA be re-instated and a copy of the letter be provided to MPP Laurie Scott.

“We need to make sure too the letter lays the case very clearly and passionately,” committee chair Carol Moffatt said. “We don’t want to be responsible for the extinction of something that is a glacial relic.”

The Minden District Fur Harvesters are inviting people to get a first-hand look at their craft during their 31st annual winter workshop Jan. 13. 

The annual event held at the Minden Hills Community Centre offers trapping demonstrations, a taxidermy display, an array of vendors and more, according to Minden District Fur Harvesters president Ted Nottage. 

Nottage said the event is a way for the group to inform the public about the activities of the trappers association. 

“It’s a chance to show the public exactly what trapping’s all about,” Nottage said. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t actually know trapping’s actually going on in this area. Its education is basically what it’s all about.” 

The demonstrations will showcase fur handling and skinning skills for the public, Nottage said. The workshop will also feature representatives from fur auction houses and include 13-14 vendors, offering trapping-related goods and woodcrafts, he said. 

“There’ll be something to do and see for pretty much everybody,” Nottage said. “Public’s more than welcome to come and see what we do and ask questions.” 

Nottage said the event’s continued success has come from it being passed down between generations. 

“It’s the participation of everybody. Everybody seems to look forward to it. We usually have people come from pretty much all over the area,” Nottage said. “We have grandparents bringing their grandkids. They were there 30 years ago and now they’re bringing their grandkids to see what’s going on.” 

The event takes place between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Jan. 13 and has an admission of $2. Non-perishable food items are also being collected for the local food bank. 

Trillium Lakeland District School Board (TLDSB) is losing a program providing tutors in the classroom at exam time after a provincial funding cut announced Dec. 16. 

 In an emailed statement, Minister of Education director of communications Kayla Lafelice said the province will reduce the ‘Education Programs – Other” (EPO) fund by $25 million for the 201819 fiscal year, putting it down to $400 million.The fund is used for specialized programming in school districts across the province.

  Trillium Lakelands District School Board director of education Larry Hope said the cuts will impact the district’s Tutors in the Classroom Program, which received about $20,000 from the fund the past several years. The program offers tutors for students in elementary schools across the district late in the year, around EQAO testing time.

  “They would be hired to support some tutoring activities and preparation work we would do around EQAO,” Hope said. “That’s about the extent of what we’ve seen (from the cuts).” The program was designed by school boards individually and allowed them to provide one-on-one tutoring for students, with a focus on literacy and numeracy skills, Hope said.

  The cut means the district will not offer the program this year he said, adding it was $20,000 spread across the division’s 41 elementary schools.

  “It wasn’t a huge amount of time that would be made available to each of the schools individually,” Hope said. “It would be spread across the schools for a very short period of time.” 

 Lafelice said the government has done a thorough review of the EPO fund. 

 “Despite only accounting for less than one per cent of school board funding, this funding has a long track record of wasteful spending, overspending and millions of dollars of unfunded commitments,” Lafelice said.

  Hope said although the cut only represents a fraction of a percentage of the education budget, it’s not something to ignore.

  “We need to pay attention to the fact that it could be the start of changes we see to funding,” Hope said.

 In anticipation of further cuts, Hope said the district is carefully reviewing to find cost savings. 

 “We’ll have to make some decisions once we know more about what the budget is going to look like going forward. Right now, all we have is rumour and hearsay but we are trying to be cautious and careful,” Hope said. “We obviously want to protect as much as we can, particularly as it relates to the classroom.”

Local transportation advocates issued an open letter to the County of Haliburton council raising concern with the work being done by a transportation consultant Dec. 28.

  In a letter to County Warden Liz Danielsen, Rural Transportation Options (RTO) chair Heather Ross said the group was disappointed the county’s transportation consultant, IBI Group, did not consult more with the county’s transportation taskforce throughout the process. IBI Group was initially hired in January 2018, with council allocating $50,000 towards it to create a transportation implementation plan. 

 “We are disappointed that through this whole process IBI has not tapped into the experience of the transportation taskforce (as a group or as individuals) or of RTO or any other agency. We ask that IBI consult with the taskforce in order to inform its final report to County Council,” Ross said in a letter. 

 Ross also said the taskforce, which RTO is a member of, was confused by an initial September report from IBI Group presenting a fixed-route service as a possibility when the task force had recommended a booked, shared-ride service.

  However, a subsequent November report from IBI Group to county council recommended the county proceed with the shared-ride service over a fixed-route service.

  In an email, Danielsen said this letter was county council’s first indication there was any concern about IBI Group’s work and she had passed it on to staff for consideration.

  “The consultant will be reporting to council during our Jan. 23 meeting and any concerns will also be addressed at that time,” she said in the email. “I am reluctant to speak on behalf of council prior to this discussion taking place other than to say that we are committed to finding solutions for transportation that are practical and will work for our residents.” 

 Community transportation project co-ordinator Tina Jackson said the task force had done a lot of work throughout 2017 to explore different models of transportation before arriving at a recommendation to the county to proceed with a shared-ride service.

  “Really, when IBI was hired and brought into the picture in 2018 the idea was not for them to identify the type of model but to create an implementation plan with the model selected,” Jackson said in an interview. “What we’re looking for is just a little bit more detail.”

  Ross said in an interview that county staff has told them to be patient. After its November report, IBI is set to present a final implementation plan to county council. 

 But she added the task force sought to send a message with the new council in place following the municipal election.

  “With the last council we really were quite successful at moving this issue,” she said. “We want to keep that particular momentum to the new council.” 

 A request for comment sent to IBI Group was redirected to County of Haliburton administration. 

 The RTO letter also asks council, through its budgeting process, to continue to support the transportation taskforce. Ross said the county has not yet indicated about continued funding for the taskforce, adding it is important the group continue its work. 

 “It is important it keeps going because it’s such a collection of knowledge,” Ross said. “We’re very hopeful the county will provide some funding for it.”

Local transportation advocates issued an open letter to the County of Haliburton council raising concern with the work being done by a transportation consultant Dec. 28.

In a letter to County Warden Liz Danielsen, Rural Transportation Options (RTO) chair Heather Ross said the group was disappointed the county’s transportation consultant, IBI Group, did not consult more with the county’s transportation taskforce throughout the process. IBI Group was initially hired in January 2018, with council allocating $50,000 towards it to create a transportation implementation plan.

“We are disappointed that through this whole process IBI has not tapped into the experience of the transportation taskforce (as a group or as individuals) or of RTO or any other agency. We ask that IBI consult with the taskforce in order to inform its final report to County Council,” Ross said in a letter.

Ross also said the taskforce, which RTO is a member of, was confused by an initial September report from IBI Group presenting a fixed-route service as a possibility when the task force had recommended a booked, shared-ride service.

However, a subsequent November report from IBI Group to county council recommended the county proceed with the shared-ride service over a fixed-route service.

In an email, Danielsen said this letter was county council’s first indication there was any concern about IBI Group’s work and she had passed it on to staff for consideration.

“The consultant will be reporting to council during our Jan. 23 meeting and any concerns will also be addressed at that time,” she said in the email. “I am reluctant to speak on behalf of council prior to this discussion taking place other than to say that we are committed to finding solutions for transportation that are practical and will work for our residents.”

Community transportation project co-ordinator Tina Jackson said the task force had done a lot of work throughout 2017 to explore different models of transportation before arriving at a recommendation to the county to proceed with a shared-ride service.

“Really, when IBI was hired and brought into the picture in 2018 the idea was not for them to identify the type of model but to create an implementation plan with the model selected,” Jackson said in an interview. “What we’re looking for is just a little bit more detail.”

Ross said in an interview that county staff has told them to be patient. After its November report, IBI is set to present a final implementation plan to county council.

But she added the task force sought to send a message with the new council in place following the municipal election.

“With the last council we really were quite successful at moving this issue,” she said. “We want to keep that particular momentum to the new council.”

A request for comment sent to IBI Group was redirected to County of Haliburton administration.

The RTO letter also asks council, through its budgeting process, to continue to support the transportation taskforce. Ross said the county has not yet indicated about continued funding for the taskforce, adding it is important the group continue its work.

“It is important it keeps going because it’s such a collection of knowledge,” Ross said. “We’re very hopeful the county will provide some funding for it.”

Trillium Lakeland District School Board (TLDSB) is losing a program providing tutors in the classroom at exam time after a provincial funding cut announced Dec. 16.

In an emailed statement, Minister of Education director of communications Kayla Lafelice said the province will reduce the ‘Education Programs – Other” (EPO) fund by $25 million for the 201819 fiscal year, putting it down to $400 million. The fund is used for specialized programming in school districts across the province.

Trillium Lakelands District School Board director of education Larry Hope said the cuts will impact the district’s Tutors in the Classroom Program, which received about $20,000 from the fund the past several years. The program offers tutors for students in elementary schools across the district late in the year, around EQAO testing time.

“They would be hired to support some tutoring activities and preparation work we would do around EQAO,” Hope said. “That’s about the extent of what we’ve seen (from the cuts).” The program was designed by school boards individually and allowed them to provide one-on-one tutoring for students, with a focus on literacy and numeracy skills, Hope said.

The cut means the district will not offer the program this year he said, adding it was $20,000 spread across the division’s 41 elementary schools.

“It wasn’t a huge amount of time that would be made available to each of the schools individually,” Hope said. “It would be spread across the schools for a very short period of time.”

Lafelice said the government has done a thorough review of the EPO fund.

“Despite only accounting for less than one per cent of school board funding, this funding has a long track record of wasteful spending, overspending and millions of dollars of unfunded commitments,” Lafelice said.

Hope said although the cut only represents a fraction of a percentage of the education budget, it’s not something to ignore.

“We need to pay attention to the fact that it could be the start of changes we see to funding,” Hope said.

In anticipation of further cuts, Hope said the district is carefully reviewing to find cost savings.

“We’ll have to make some decisions once we know more about what the budget is going to look like going forward. Right now, all we have is rumour and hearsay but we are trying to be cautious and careful,” Hope said. “We obviously want to protect as much as we can, particularly as it relates to the classroom.”

The Minden District Fur Harvesters are inviting people to get a first-hand look at their craft during their 31st annual winter workshop Jan. 13.

The annual event held at the Minden Hills Community Centre offers trapping demonstrations, a taxidermy display, an array of vendors and more, according to Minden District Fur Harvesters president Ted Nottage.

Nottage said the event is a way for the group to inform the public about the activities of the trappers association.

“It’s a chance to show the public exactly what trapping’s all about,” Nottage said. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t actually know trapping’s actually going on in this area. Its education is basically what it’s all about.”

The demonstrations will showcase fur handling and skinning skills for the public, Nottage said. The workshop will also feature representatives from fur auction houses and include 13-14 vendors, offering trapping-related goods and woodcrafts, he said.

“There’ll be something to do and see for pretty much everybody,” Nottage said. “Public’s more than welcome to come and see what we do and ask questions.”

Nottage said the event’s continued success has come from it being passed down between generations.

“It’s the participation of everybody. Everybody seems to look forward to it. We usually have people come from pretty much all over the area,” Nottage said. “We have grandparents bringing their grandkids. They were there 30 years ago and now they’re bringing their grandkids to see what’s going on.”

The event takes place between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Jan. 13 and has an admission of $2. Non-perishable food items are also being collected for the local food bank.