Dr. Adam Wade – a chiropractor for Canada Skateboard’s Fay de Fazio Ebert at the 2024 Paris Olympics – is leading an introduction to women’s mountain bike clinic at Glebe Park Aug. 16.

Wade has a family place on Haliburton Lake and is a member of the Haliburton Mountain Bike Club, which is hosting the clinic this Saturday.

Club president Jason Bradley said Wade volunteered to offer the workshop to area women.

He added it is open to anyone, members or non-members. “They’re going to learn introductory mountain bike techniques, skills, safety, and riding practices,” Bradley said. He added, “you can never have been on a mountain bike before and you can show up Saturday.”

The clinic starts at 9 a.m. and people are encouraged to reserve a spot by emailing haliburtonmtb@gmail.com .

It’s been a big season for the club, which hosted its firstever annual general meeting in the spring. It now has a constitution, and elected Bradley as president along with three directors: Owen Flood, Luke Lester and Graham Borgdorff. The club has about 70 members.

The Glebe Park Committee looks after the park on behalf of Dysart et al. The mountain bike club, cross-country ski club, and snowmobile association all have a hand in maintaining trails.

So far, the mountain bike club has had four volunteer sessions for trail work.

Bradley said, “part of the club’s mandate for this year was to increase accessibility; so, beginners and kids and youth can access the trail network.”

The trails are marked one through 10. One to four are now for beginners, and marked green. They also have intermediate trails, marked blue, and expert, marked black.

“We’ve brought in a bunch of fill and just made them more accessible to beginners. That was our whole idea, so people could have a 30-minute loop to build their confidence and then progress.”

He said they’ve also built a kids loop behind the Haliburton Highlands Museum.

New signage was expected this week for the mountain bike trails sections.

Bradley said they’ve also lucked out with some corporate sponsors, so “good community involvement.” He added that Sir Sam’s Ski/Bike had given club members a discounted rate.

Bradley said the other key thing is group rides every Wednesday night at 6 p.m., for both a beginner’s easy ride and an intermediate ride. “We’d love to have more people show up. Anyone can show up on the Wednesday and people help you, and your ride will be according to your skill level. You will be accommodated.

“You’re in the woods. Membership is $25, which is super affordable. You don’t have to have a membership to ride in Glebe, but you would be contributing to trail maintenance and insurance, which is expensive.

“It’s a fantastic resource we have within Glebe Park. It’s beautiful and we’re lucky to have it and there’s a club that wants to embrace it and have fun together.” For more information, go to haliburtonmtb.ca

Minden Hills councillors, July 31, voted to withhold a statement of concurrence for a cell tower on Bobcaygeon Road, leaving the build in limbo.

The ultimate decision about whether or not a tower is built rests with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), although they do take into account municipal planning input.

The vote went against the recommendation of planner Amanda Dougherty, who said the required public consultation had been completed, and the proposal complied with land use requirements of the official plan and zoning bylaw.

The 70-metre wireless telecommunications tower is proposed for a private property at 830 Bobcaygeon Rd. in a licensed aggregate pit.

In her report, Dougherty said, “a new communications tower would support essential infrastructure objectives by increasing broadband and cellular connectivity and further supporting the economic and socio-economic advantages within the community.”

She said it was 1,141 feet from a well-treed road so would be somewhat screened, there are no wetlands in the development area, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Foresty has no issues. She noted some concerns were not considered reasonable and relevant, such as the effect on property values or municipal taxes, or health concerns, since they are under Health Canada jurisdiction.

Mayor Bob Carter said, “the scope of local councils are limited. We are involved with making sure that there is compliance with the prescribed consultation process and compliance with the township’s land use documents.”

However, council heard from residents Sandi Prentice and David and Priscilla Hessel, who asked them not to issue a statement of concurrence.

Prentice said “my house is the same height as the top of the proposed tower. That tower will be eye level to my bedroom window with a blinking red light in my face every night.”

Prentice said “my house is the same height as the top of the proposed tower. That tower will be eye level to my bedroom window with a blinking red light in my face every night.”

She went on to say she had “serious concerns, not just about the tower itself, but the integrity of the public consultation process.” She claimed “the process was supposed to inform and involve the community, instead it’s been riddled with contradictions, misleading statements, and in some cases outright falsehoods.”

The Hessels said they live 500 metres north of the proposed tower. “We and our neighbours don’t want a tower. We don’t see the need for it and we are concerned about the impact on our property, our health and the environment.”

They claimed that “upon finding a landowner willing to host a tower, Rogers/EORN have moved to expedite he public consultation process; the public notice did not include the required information; did not adequately consider alternate sites or co-location options; and does not meet the stated objectives (improving service near Mountain Lake).”

Coun. Shirley Johannessen said of 20 impacted properties, 13 are opposed, one undecided, two in favour and four unknown. She said with that level of public opposition, she needed to listen to her constituents.

Carter said he represented all constituents, and if EORN or Rogers does not build the tower, it will result in a continuing cell gap in the area.

EORN communications lead, Lisa Severson told council the cell gap project – and its federal, provincial, and municipal funding – will be done at the end of 2026. She said it takes 12 to 36 months to find appropriate sites and build. “I can’t guarantee there would be an alternate site built.”

Doug Ford, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) local 564 in Haliburton County, wasn’t surprised to hear that more than two thirds of Canada Post mail workers rejected the Crown corporation’s final contract offer last week.

About 55,000 of the Crown corporation’s employees have been working without a renewed contract for the past 18 months. Collective agreements for rural carriers expired Dec. 31, 2023, and for urban workers Jan. 31, 2024.

A month-long strike shuttered the country’s postal service between Nov. 15 and Dec. 17 last year, before the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) mandated a six-month temporary contract that restored operations. That deal, which carried a five per cent retroactive wage increase to the day after collective agreements expired, ran until May 22.

After negotiations between the two parties yielded little progress through the first half of 2025, federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu indicated she was going to send the issue to arbitration in late-May. However, Canada Post successfully argued it was within its rights to demand workers vote on its most recent offer.

According to CIRB, about 82.8 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot – 43,370 of 53,614 active CUPW members – with 68.5 per cent of urban workers and 69.4 per cent of rural employees turning it down.

“The language that Canada Post has put in the global offers that the public has seen is only part of what’s going on – it’s all bullet point, there’s no actual details in there,” Ford told The Highlander. “That makes it hard [for people to vote yes] when they don’t actually know what they’re voting for.”

In a statement, Canada Post said the deal contained a 13.59 per cent wage increase over four years; signing bonuses of $500 to $1,000; removal of compulsory overtime for urban workers; and reversal of proposed changes to employee health benefits and pension contributions.

There was also a commitment to create new permanent flex positions to fill shifts for weekend delivery – with the Crown corporation saying new services on Saturdays and Sundays are vital to its longterm success.

Ford said those positions are almost exclusively part-time and would replace relief workers already employed by the company.

“When we were told they were going to create a new workforce, that’s not exactly true. All they’re really doing is getting rid of the pre-workforce we have now and giving them a new name and expanding their duties. It’s not really a new category,” Ford said.

“Our union is not against weekend delivery. All CUPW wanted was for [the current pre-workforce employees] to get weekend delivery assigned to them, so it would give them meaningful employment. That’s been the crux of this from the beginning,” he added.

In an Aug. 1 media release, Canada Post said it is “evaluating next steps following [the] vote outcome.”

The emailed statement read, “while we are disappointed in the results, we want to thank employees for participating in the process… this result does not lessen the urgent need to modernize and protect this vital national service. However, it does mean the uncertainty that has been significantly impacting our business – and the many Canadians and businesses who depend on Canada Post – will continue.”

Since 2018, Canada Post has accumulated over $3.8 billion in losses before taxes. It posted a $1.3 billion loss in 2024.

Company spokesperson Lisa Liu told The Highlander that, over the past two years, Canada Post has seen its share in the country’s parcel market drop from almost two-thirds of all deliveries to around 20 per cent.

“As we have not been able to make changes to our delivery model and have been negotiating for more than 20 months without resolution, businesses are choosing parcel delivery companies that provide a more convenient seven-day a week service,” Liu said.

Ford maintains workers in Haliburton County don’t want another strike but said they’re becoming disillusioned by the protracted negotiations.

He feels the next step will be Hadju sending CUPW and Canada Post to arbitration, which will force a new contract.

“I certainly hope she’s wise enough to do that… because there’s a lot on the line here,” he said. “It’s clear there isn’t a will for a strike… but the longer we go without a contract, who knows.”

It was the mid-1980s when Steve Lapp was first introduced to the concept of an electric vehicle (EV).

While the first commercial EV, the Tesla Roadster, didn’t hit North American roads until 2010, work on the technology stretches back decades. Lapp, who studied solar thermal energy at Queen’s University, was part of a small team at a Canadian startup, Alu Power, that converted a Chrysler minivan into an EV in 1989.

Because the lithium-ion technology used today didn’t exist yet, the team transitioned the vehicle using an aluminum air fuel cell. Lapp, who will be in Haliburton County Aug. 9 for a talk on EVs, said it was capable of travelling about 300 kilometres.

“The technology has improved dramatically since then, with the breakthrough coming in the early 1990s, when the lithium-ion battery became commercially viable,” Lapp said.

Originally designed for cell phones and laptops, the units are now used to power about 70 different EV models in Canada, Lapp said.

Before that, companies utilized aluminum, lead-acid and sodium-sulfur batteries for EVs. General Motors released the EV1 in 1996. The company built thousands, but rather than sell they opted to lease. Interest in the small two-seater, which had a low range of travel of less than 200 kilometres on a full charge, was limited and it was quickly discontinued.

It’s a different ballgame today, Lapp said, with most EVs capable of travelling 400 to 500 kilometres on a full charge. Compared to standard vehicles, which utilize internal combustion engines, they’re much cheaper to run. Owners can charge vehicles at home for pennies on the dollar, he said.

“Using the low overnight [hydro] rate, it costs something like three cents per kilowatt hour to charge, which is about $2.10 for a full battery,” Lapp said. Owning two EVs since 2012, he estimates he’s saved well over $10,000 in gas alone. There’s been another five-figure savings on oil changes – not required with EVs.

Lapp said recent studies indicate EVs pay off their energy debt for climate change emissions within two years.

“Other than the energy it takes to make them, EVs don’t have much carbon dioxide emissions attached to them… the only thing that’s restrictive is the distance you can travel, otherwise they’re better than standard vehicles in every way,” Lapp said. “They cost less to operate, they’re quieter, and they aren’t contributing to climate change.”

He noted global sales are increasing 20 to 25 per cent annually, pegging the number of EVs actively on the road at around 60 million. Combined, manufacturers are producing about 20 million EVs per year. About 17 million were sold in 2024, including 264,000 in Canada.

During his Environment Haliburton! sponsored talk at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School this weekend, running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lapp said he’ll be discussing EV life cycles, costs, and other practical things would-be owners need to know.

With the federal government mandating that 100 per cent of new light-duty vehicle sales be zero-emission by 2035, Lapp said EVs are the future. He says the technology is constantly improving, with weight-reducing long-life super capacitors likely arriving in the next few years, though any new battery enhancements are “probably” 10 years away.

“A new unit will set you back $50,000, but it’s probably one of the best investments you can make,” Lapp said. “But more than the monetary savings, we all know climate change isn’t waiting… it’s something we have to address. EVs may have some limitations – they may never go as far, may cost a little more up front than standard vehicles, but that’s the social cost of addressing climate change.”