Colt Taylor credits the Haliburton Army Cadets program with moulding him into the man he is today.

Local troop 1129, for youth aged 12 to 18, celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025. Taylor, a volunteer instructor with the corps, has been involved for 16 years – seven as a cadet and nine as a mentor and coach to the County’s next generation of recruits.

“Cadets promote citizenship and help kids develop values and traits such as responsibility, leadership, courage, discipline, and accountability,” Taylor told The Highlander.

The group, which boasts about 30 active members, meets Tuesday evenings at the Haliburton Legion for training nights. Taylor said cadets also participate in specialty assignments some weekends.

There’s no cost for youth to attend, with the program funded by the federal government and receiving further support from the County’s legion branches, the Haliburton Highlands Resource Centre, and the Minden Lions and Lioness’ club.

Taylor said sessions are split into three periods, featuring some form of physical training and instruction. Youth are challenged to develop their fitness, critical thinking, and outdoors-based abilities. He said they’ll have the chance to experience rock climbing and mountain biking, learn first aid, and camp out under the stars while learning how to use a map and compass, GPS technology, and basic survival skills.

As cadets gain more experience, they may be selected for parachuting and national expedition programs. There will also be chances to learn how to handle firearms through regular marksmanship classes.

That’s Taylor’s forte. For years, he’s coached the cadet’s marksmanship team. Respect and discipline are the aim of the game, he said, working with selected youth sporadically throughout the year, but weekly in the lead up to competitions.

Taylor said the troop utilizes a Daisy 853C air rifle, with cadets taking turns shooting 20 targets roughly three centimetres in size from distances of 10 metres and beyond. Shots can be taken in prone and standing positions.

The Haliburton team performed well at a competition in Belleville Feb. 23, placing third out of 10 teams in the Central Ontario zone competition. Taylor said five cadets represented the County at the event.

“The team woke up as early as 3:30 a.m. to meet the bus at the Haliburton Legion for pick-up at 5… they were at a disadvantage as other teams got a lot more sleep, and some other cadet corps have additional gear such as competition marksmanship jackets, but they exceeded expectations.

“The cadets were very happy with their results and are already excited to start practicing for a first-place finish next year,” Taylor said. “They should be very proud of their accomplishment and for representing Haliburton.”

Taylor said cadets also get involved in the community, attending ceremonial military events and volunteering time to worthwhile causes. Last summer, the group assisted with the rehabilitation of ‘The Haliburton’ M4 Easy Eight Sherman tank.

“I love the program – it’s taught me a lot over the years,” Taylor said. “It turns people into leaders… the Haliburton cadet corps is always looking for new recruits.”

Meetings are Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at the Haliburton Legion. For more information, contact haliburtonarmycadets@gmail.com, or call 705-457-8002.

After securing a seventh term as MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, Laurie Scott told The Highlander she believes the Progressive Conservatives, led by Doug Ford, were the best option to lead Ontario through choppy, tariff-infested waters.

With U.S. president Donald Trump implementing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports March 4, Scott said
following her Feb. 27 win that the PCs have a plan to hit back.

On Tuesday, Ford ripped up Ontario’s $100 million deal with Starlink, an internet provider owned by Elon Musk, and said U.S. companies will be banned from provincial procurements projects as part of his response to the tariffs. He also said Ontario will place a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity flowing from plants this side
of the border into the U.S.

“We’re in a world we’ve never experienced before – all I heard on the campaign trail was about Trump, the tariffs
and what’s going to happen to Ontario and the economy,” Scott said. “We will be strong, and we will make the necessary moves to protect Ontario.”

Scott win ‘foregone conclusion

Scott recieved 51.9 per cent of the riding’s vote. Turn out was 49.8 per cent up marginally from 48.14 per cent in
2022, with 51,027 of 104,325 registered electors casting a ballot.

County issues

With basic living costs spiralling, Scott was asked what she would do to make life more affordable for people in
Haliburton County.

“The provincial government has given lots of tax cuts to low-income earners and made different increases to things like ODSP… we cut and give back what we can, like the 10 cents per litre in the gas tax,” she said.

In 2022, the province temporarily reduced the gas tax rate by 5.7 cents per litre, and the diesel tax rate by 5.3 cents per litre. The move was extended to June 30 of this year last October. Since July 2023, people living on ODSP have had their rates increased 11 per cent.

After touting a major focus on affordable housing following her 2022 election win, Scott claims she followed
through on that promise after a Jan. 28 announcement that Minden will receive $2.4 million to bolster the local rental supply.

That build will be headed up by the Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing Corporation, Scott said, though she
offered no timelines for when the money will be paid out, when shovels will hit the ground, or how many affordable units will be created.

With Haliburton Highlands Health Services planning a 98-unit $49 million expansion to Hyland Crest long-term
care home in Minden, Scott indicated she is supportive of the proposal.

“I like to see the progression – it would mean more beds. I’ve been talking with [HHHS CEO] Veronica Nelson, the
ministry is involved to look at that whole bigger picture of evolution of LTC in the County… we’ve been looking at that for a while,” Scott said, noting she’s also had recent discussions with Extendicare over their future build in the County.

The province announced a $41 million investment with the for-profit care provider in February 2022 for a new
128-bed facility.

“They’ve chosen to build Peterborough first. They tell me Haliburton is next… I think they want to be assured of
staffing. There’s a lot of issues they’re looking at,” she said. “Not exactly a date [for start-up], but very soon. It’s still in the future; their plan is to build there.”

In January, Extendicare told The Highlander it has yet to determine a location for the new facility.

Other candidates respond

Liberal candidate Alison Bennie, who recieved 11,688 votes, said she is “the happiest loser in Ontario” after
coming in a surprise second-place in HKLB.

“I really am speechless… I said if I got over 1,000 votes that I’d be happy,” Bennie said. “One of the reasons I ran
was because I didn’t want to see the party go downhill to nothing in this riding. I spoke to a lot of people and
provided a different choice – I’m not your standard, polished person. I’m more ‘let’s get together and work this
out’, bit of an underdog, and I think that resonated with people.”

Barbara Doyle, a repeat runner for the NDP after finishing second in 2022, was a distant third, with 6,993 votes.
Speaking to The Highlander an hour before polls closed, she said she had a good feeling after a month on the
campaign trail.

“The day-to-day affordability was really what people were talking about… things felt different than 2022. So many
people told me they’re voting NDP for the first time ever,” Doyle said.

County resident Tom Regina, representing the Greens, took home a lesser split of the vote this time around, down
from seven per cent in 2022, but finished in fourth place – ahead of New Blue candidate Jacquie Barker.

Speaking after results were confirmed, he said it was a “forgone conclusion” Scott would reclaim her seat though
was surprised by a strong Liberal performance.

In what was his second Ontario election, Regina said he was unsure if he would run again in future.

“I can’t look much past tomorrow, let alone three or four years down the road,” he said.

After doubling up on efforts to enhance student literacy across Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) in recent years, superintendent Jay MacJanet says the school system is starting to see the fruits of its labour.

During a visit to Haliburton last month for a screening of the documentary The Truth About Reading, MacJanet said the board has seen improved statistics for reading and comprehension at the primary level, with students tested in Grades 3 and 6 performing above the provincial average.

For the 2023-24 school year, 76 per cent of Grade 3 students in TLDSB were reading at or above the expected level – five per cent higher than the provincial average, and nine per cent more than in the 2018-19 school
year, when the board started beefing up on staff professional development and adapting instructional practices, MacJanet said.

The superintendent noted 81 per cent of Grade 6 students are reading at their age level, on par with the provincial average of 82 per cent, but a five per cent increase board wide from six years ago.

“In the past five years, when you look at our progress we have changed for the better,” MacJanet said, noting provincial averages have dropped about three per cent over the same period. “I think the biggest thing we’ve done is focus on the early interventions in our primary grades, starting in Kindergarten, and giving our teachers
more research, more practical applications to help them understand reading strategies they can pass on to kids in the classroom.”

The results are even better when narrowing in on the County – for the past three years, Grade 3 reading levels at Archie Stouffer, Cardiff, J.D. Hodgson, Stuart Baker and Wilberforce elementary schools had increased 12 per cent, with Grade 6 statistics improving three per cent.

There have been improvements in writing, too, MacJanet said – up 13 per cent for Grade 3s and five per cent for Grade 6s.

At the secondary level, the number of students passing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test at Hal High has
increased 11 per cent.

While instruction took a hit during the virtual learning years, MacJanet said TLDSB continued to send staff for training on new teaching methods and initiatives.

Then, in 2023, the board shifted its focus to “more of a research-based assessment using evidence-based resources” to analyze student performance data. He said this more clearly shows the board what’s working and
what isn’t.

A new literacy advisory panel has been established to guide decision making, with instructional coaches hired for all elementary schools in the system.

“What that means is teachers have someone with specific training working side-by-side with them on strategies
that have the biggest impact with kids, MacJanet said.

He feels establishing a high base level in reading is the most important aspect of early-years education.

“If you can give kids a solid foundation and get them to a solid reading level by Grade 3, that sets them up for success,” MacJanet said. “If our kids become better readers, it helps them with all levels of instruction whether it be math, science, or any other subject.”

Making a difference

Haliburton mom Tiffany Walt said her seven-year-old daughter Ruby, a Grade 1 student at Stuart Baker (SBES), is thriving under the new system.

“We did stuff before she started school, but in Kindergarten we saw a lot of progress. She was starting to understand the two letter sounds, when there’s a silent ‘e’ – she learned all those little tools to the point that
she’s now thriving in Grade 1 and can very fluently read,” Walt said.

Ruby is enrolled in French Immersion at SBES, where she does 60 per cent of her work in French and 40 per cent in English. Having no French background herself, Walt said her daughter is now teaching her different aspects of the language, using songs she’s learned in school.

Walt runs a home daycare, where she looks after 10 school-aged children from Kindergarten to Grade 4. She said all but one are reading at or above their age level.

“We play a lot of board and card games, things like headband where someone wears a band with a word on it and the other kids have to try and not say that word and have their friend figure it out – they’re all doing really well with their reading and talking.

“Ruby absolutely loves school, no questions asked… what they’re doing, at least with Ruby and some of these other kids, seems to be working,” Walt said.

To the future

While saying the board is “ahead of where we thought we’d be” moving into 2025, MacJanet said there’s still work to be done. This year, TLDSB has expanded its literacy focus group to students from Grades 6 to 8.

“We’re branching into junior intermediate for those who continue to have difficulties or different learning styles – it’s important we find ways for teachers to support them in various ways in the classroom so that nobody gets left behind.

“We’re working with our different curriculums and portfolios, like specialized services and Indigenous studies, to make this reading focus cross-curricular,” he said.

MacJanet said the board is also working with parents to access resources and implement methods at home to help with their child’s development. “It could be as simple as reading with them before bed.”

One area Walt said she’d like to see improved is communication with teachers.

“They send home report cards twice a year… but if we had more in terms of letting us know where our child is at, if
they’re ahead in their reading, doing OK, or behind – that would be helpful. That would give parents a baseline, something we can use to see how much more work our kids should be putting in when they’re not at school,” she said.

Six Haliburton County residents were awarded King Charles III Coronation Medals March. 4.

MP Jamie Schmale handed out the honours to Ken Mott and Brenda Boomhouer in Highlands East, and Rev.
Joan Cavanaugh-Clark, Dick Schell, Lynda Litwin and Fay Martin in Minden.

Schmale said, “there are a large number of people doing some amazing things in our community; volunteer work that goes unrecognized, but all of it together makes our community a better place.”

The day began for Schmale and his assistant, Andrew Hodson, at the Wilberforce Legion.

Nominator Tina Jackson, who is executive director of the Central Food Network (CFN), said Mott started out as the
volunteer manager of the then Wilberforce Food Bank. He got municipal support, and Ontario Trillium Foundation
funding, to create the Highlands East Food Hub and CFN. He co-founded Heat Bank Haliburton County. It’s believed he volunteers 30 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, drives 25,000 kilometres, and manages a team of 22 volunteers at the food hub. He also picks up, splits and delivers firewood.

Mott said he was a recipient of community help years ago and that brought him to the food bank work.

“I totally wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t know exactly what it even was until Tuesday”, he said of the medal.

Boomhouer established a Vet-to-Vet fishing program. She said her award was also a, “total surprise and an extreme honour. I couldn’t have done it alone. Our volunteers are very important to the success. The Vet-to-Vet participants call it a family. They come in as strangers and go home with a family.”

St. Paul’s Anglican Church was the venue for Cavanaugh-Clark’s medal ceremony. Nominator Deacon Martha Waind said Cavanaugh-Clark doesn’t just lead a congregation, but oversees a thrift shop. Money is also donated to local charities, and to the Bishop McAllister Anglican
Church School in Africa, an orphanage for kids who have lost their parents to AIDS.

Waind also talked about her colleague’s community outreach, saying she has a unique ability to see a problem and find a solution.”

Cavanaugh-Clark said, “today I get this medal because all of you support me and the ideas I have.”

Making Haliburton Highlands special

Marilynne Lesperance nominated Schell. She said he served with the OPP auxiliary from 1967 to 2013, and remains an OPP guard. He’s been involved in youth justice, the food bank, Minden Rotary, the Kinsmen Club, Haliburton Highlands Health Services, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, the Legion, The Masonic Lodge, been a volunteer fireman and ambulance attendant, a housing advocate, and sat on municipal committees. “Do you think he
deserves this?”

Schell thanked Lesperance and Diane Peacock for nominating him, and his wife and family, “because every time I was out volunteering, she was home looking after the fort. Thank you to all those people that supported me when I was volunteering.”

Andy Campbell nominated Litwin for her volunteer work in Minden for the past 20 years. She’s been a Rotary president twice, spearheaded events such as Canada Day and Rotaryfest, golf tournaments, helped out at municipal events, and on municipal committees. “She volunteers for everything, contributes to everything,
participates in everything, and never seems to get tired,” Campbell said.

An emotional Litwin said it was an “unbelievable honour.” She thanked her friends and Rotary family for attending.

Susan Tromanhauser nominated Martin. She said Martin had worked as a community organizer since the 1960s. She’s done social work across the country. Through her business, she helped grassroots organizations push for change. She was founding executive director of today’s Point in Time Centre for Children. In 2007, Martin created Places for People. She’s also been on the board of Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing Corporation; founded the Minden Hills housing task force; and is a director for Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region. She has also been heavily involved in the arts over the years.

A surprised Martin said she arrived in the community in 1997, and has lived here longer than anywhere as an adult. “This is really a wonderful community to live in.” She also felt it was a great community to do research, “because you can have an idea and go stand in the grocery store and find five people that think that’s a good idea
and make it happen.”

Schmale said, “we’d like to nominate many more but we only have so many medals. Pretty much everyone I see in this room (the Minden Legion) has volunteered in some capacity, did something amazing, and each and every one is a piece to the puzzle that makes Haliburton Highlands so special.”

Kinmount’s Keith Stata has also been awarded a medal, and others are expected to be given to County residents soon.

Jenna Rose had her whole life mapped out when enrolling at the Haliburton School of Art + Design (HSAD) in spring 2016, though her experiences at the Highlands’ creative hub inspired her to change her tune.

The 32-year-old released her seventh single There You Were Feb. 20 on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music. With a country pop feel, Rose said the song is a story about breaking free from the chains of heartache to pave a new path forward.

“A lot of my songs have been based on this feeling of me not being able to get over an ex from a couple of years ago, but with this, I just felt tired and got to a place where I realized that thinking has got to go,” Rose said. “So, this is a little bit faster, more upbeat… about how I’m ready for a new story to happen.”

She penned the lyrics in mid-January after stumbling across a pre-recorded music sample from a Nashville-based producer. That tends to be her style, taking different sounds she’s heard and forming them into melodies in her mind.

Rose remembers doing just that on an almost daily basis nine years ago when she travelled from the Lake Kashagawigamog cabin she was staying at to HSAD. After graduating from Fleming College’s addictions and mental health counsellor program, she signed up for the expressive arts therapy course in Haliburton. She
envisioned a career helping people move past traumatic moments of their lives.

“My time in Haliburton was really pivotal for me, because I realized I didn’t have to do things in a conventional way… I’ve always been an artist, painting when I was younger, but I learned there were other avenues I could pursue to make a difference,” Rose said.

While only in the community for a few months, Rose said she made connections that remain strong to this day. She lived with a local family she still keeps in touch with, reminisces about mornings spent clutching a cup of coffee at Kosy Korner, and hazily recalls a few late nights getting to know the crowd at McKecks.

After growing up in a small town in Huron County, Haliburton always reminded her of home, she said.

Upon graduating, she moved to the city and got involved in acting. In 2022, she wrote a poetry book Crashing Waves, Meditations to Set Yourself Free. Dealing with depression through much of the COVID 19 pandemic, she took what she learned from her studies at HSAD to express her emotions with her words.

“After that, songwriting felt like the next natural step,” Rose said.

She’s already working on other material and is planning a trip to Nashville, hoping to build on her connections and
improve her sound.

Having worked with producer John Kennedy on her latest single – he’s known for his collaborations with
LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Julianne Hough, and Billy Ray Cyrus – Rose already has experience dealing with a star of the industry. For now, she’s not putting much pressure on trying to “make it”, instead allowing herself to fully enjoy the ride.

“I’m still in the building phase, learning a lot about myself and my voice. This song marked the beginning of a new chapter… I want to get out and do some more live performing. I’d love to get up to Haliburton even to do that if I can, that would be awesome,” Rose said.