When the heavens opened in early December, covering Haliburton County with a thick blanket of snow, Tanya McCready of Winterdance Dogsled Tours felt like her prayers had been answered.

It had been another late start to the winter season for most in the Highlands. It used to be that businesses would prep and get ready for snow or ice-based activities beginning in late October or early November, but for the past couple of years, the ground has remained green, and lakes thawed well into December.

That’s made things tricky for tourism operators such as McCready, who depend on a long and busy winter to ensure bills are paid year-round.

“I won’t lie, it was looking a little scary there for a while… When we were looking to start our business 25 years ago, Haliburton was the closest thing we found to the Yukon… but the weather has been very unpredictable recently,” she said.

So much so that she and partner, Hank DeBruin, invested in a snowmaking machine this year.

“We can’t afford to gamble on Mother Nature anymore,” McCready said, noting she did about half the business she usually does last year.

The pair planned to fire up properly for the first time last month at Camp Kandalore, after being contracted to make snow for a Hollywood feature being filmed in the area. But, even in mid-November, temperatures were too high and whatever came out of the machine quickly melted.

After a flurry of snowfalls this month, McCready said they’re running the machine to build up snow reserves that can be used to supplement, patch and rebuild the trail systems should temperatures rise.

With 2,100 acres on the southeast corner of Haliburton Lake, Winterdance welcomes guests from across the world. They had their first visitors, from Australia, Dec. 7 and opened to the public Dec. 14. McCready said six families participated in half-day and two-hour tours over the weekend.

Getting sled-ready

It’s been a busy time too for Neil Vanderstoop, president of the Haliburton County Snowmobile Association. He said volunteers were grooming for the first time last weekend as the group prepares its trails for the new season.

“They’re calling for lots of snow, so I’m optimistic,” Vanderstoop said. “Even though it was a late start, it’s been similar to last year and we still groomed for eight weeks last year, so it wasn’t our shortest season. We had some years in the 70s and 80s where people could barely get their machines out.”

While lakes aren’t yet fully frozen, he warned snowmobilers to use caution when planning routes. Lakes should only be accessed if they’ve been staked by HCSA, Vanderstoop said.

Dec. 14 and 15 was also the opening weekend at Sir Sam’s Ski/Ride.

“We’re really excited – the winter snow that came early to the County was certainly a help in terms of getting the entire hill in really good shape ready for opening. It bodes well for the amount of snow we’ll see throughout the season,” said co-owner, Doug Wilkinson.

He was happy to hear HCSA’s snowmobile trails were back online, saying riders tend to bring their family north for trips, with many opting to ski too. Angelica Ingram, the County’s manager of tourism, said she’s heard positive things from businesses over the past couple of weeks.

“The abundance of snow has brought about a great sense of optimism in the Highlands. Many [other] outdoor adventure operators are also welcoming guests – Haliburton Forest, the Nordic Ski Trail Association and much more,” Ingram said.

After being forced to cease operations in March the past couple of years, McCready said she’s hoping for a more typical winter season.

“It’d be great to see snow right up to April – a little bit of fresh snow every week is the perfect recipe for anyone into snowmobiling, skiing, snowboarding and dogsledding. It would be nice for Ontarians to know they can count on winter again, because I think a lot of people have kind of given up on it.”

Highlands-based Canada Post delivery personnel are disappointed to have been mandated back to work, says Doug Ford, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) local 564 covering Haliburton County.

Workers returned to their usual routes Dec. 17 after spending a month on the picket line lobbying for wage increases, greater job protection, and pay equity for new employees.

Approximately 95 per cent of CUPW’s 55,000 unionized workers Canada-wide supported the strike action, walking off the job Nov. 15. Most had been working without a contract since Dec. 31, 2023.

“It’s our opinion that Canada Post negotiated in bad faith waiting for the government to intervene – that’s how everybody feels,” Ford said. “Our union made some fairly significant concessions in the last week to try and get a deal, but Canada Post outright refused. It’s apparent to us that this was their game plan since the beginning.

“Workers have a right to collectively negotiate. Once again, it’s been taken away by the government… workers are disappointed, because they’ve all stuck together this past month. They wanted a negotiated settlement,” he added.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) stepped in Dec. 15, noting negotiations between the union and Crown corporation were at an impasse following two days of hearings over the weekend. Federal labour minister Steven MacKinnon, on Dec. 13, directed CIRB to order all employees back to work if it didn’t think a deal was doable before the end of the year.

Unionized members will work under the terms of their expired deal until May 22, though will receive a five per cent wage increase retroactive to the day after collective agreements expired – Dec. 31 for rural and suburban carriers and Jan. 31, 2024 for the urban unit.

Canada Post said the wage increase and retroactive payment will be made by Jan. 31, 2025, though all regularly contracted employees will receive $1,000 before Christmas, with temporary employees getting $500.

“We look forward to welcoming our employees back to work and serving the millions of Canadians and businesses who rely on our services,” Canada Post said in a statement Dec. 15. “Our commitment has always been to reach negotiated agreements that would help us better serve the changing needs of Canadians. We remain committed to doing so within this new process.”

Ford noted most media outlets were reporting a return to work before the union agreed to the CIRB directive. Officials signed off on the mandate the evening of Dec. 16, though Ford said CUPW will be challenging the order in court.

“In defence of our position, we have court victories that show what’s happening is illegal. It’s always the same thing – one rule for me and another for the government. It shouldn’t be that way. Nobody should be above a court ruling from the Supreme Court, but that’s what’s happened,” Ford said. “This is the government bailing out Canada Post.”

The company said workers will begin processing mail and parcels that have been trapped in the system the past four-and-ahalf weeks. New domestic mail outs won’t be accepted until Dec. 19, with international deliveries resuming Dec. 23.

Service guarantees are temporarily suspended, with Canada Post telling the public to expect delays through the remainder of 2024 and into the new year.

Ford said he’s concerned that, by implementing a temporary contract, the government is kicking the can down the road.

He said the two negotiating parties remain far apart on key details surrounding a new seven-day delivery cycle and pay.

Canada Post wants to use part-time relief workers to fill weekend routes, rather than full-time employees, and has offered to increase wages 12.5 per cent. Ford said last he heard the union was asking for an extra 19.5 per cent.

“Now our workers are going back, they’re doing it not knowing things are settled. They’re wondering what’s going to happen after this time out. This is something unprecedented – we still don’t know what’s going to happen in May. Nobody wants to see another disruption,” Ford said.

County taxpayers will pay an extra $15.97 per $100,000 of residential assessment after the upper-tier government passed its 2025 budget at a council meeting Dec. 11.

The budget carries a 4.82 per cent levy increase plus a 1.5 per cent capital levy.

The Minden-based municipality determined it needs nearly $25 million from ratepayers for the coming year, about a $1.7 million increase. The capital levy is to help pay for aging infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and culverts in future. The capital levy will raise more than $358,000. There has also been 1.45 per cent assessment growth to aid the budget.

Treasurer Andrea Robinson told council, “almost 80 per cent of that levy increase is outside of the County’s control, with inflation, transfers, and catch up, or loss of funding.”

She added staff had utilized reserves along with phasing in new positions in an effort to reduce the required ask in 2025. However, she said that would impact 2026.

CAO Gary Dyke said, “with the challenges being faced, I think we have a very progressive budget. We work very hard in prioritizing our funding into areas that we think are really impactful, while recognizing the demands on the lower-tiers as well as the ratepayers across the County.”

Taxpayers give money to their township, the County and the school board.

Coun. Bob Carter said he thought the levy increase “was still too high. At the end of the day, there’s less take-home pay for lots of people. And we’re already in a tough situation. Each of the municipalities is going to have even more challenging numbers because of the deficit in our infrastructure. I would like us to see what more can possibly be done.”

Coun. Liz Danielsen asked for his suggestions on how the levy could be lowered.

Carter said they needed to look at library funding, one of the few discretionary expenditures at the County. He suggested they also look at the tourism department and how much is being spent there.

Dyke said he thought, if anything, they needed to boost spending for tourism and economic development.

As for the overall budget, Dyke added he thought staff had done “an amazing job” with the past two budgets, considering the operation of the County itself is just one per cent of the levy figure. He said if they dropped it further, they would be getting into service cuts “and I’m not quite sure where they’d come from.

“We need a better system in which we collect our revenue. We’re stuck in a regressive tax program in which that is the only way the province will let us collect money, and it’s broken and it needs to be fixed.”

Coun. Cec Ryall added, “it’s not just the cost of doing it, it’s the cost of not doing it. If we choose not to do it, what is the impact?”

Danielsen said staff had cut the levy in half since the first draft, “so to ask staff to take a look and cut some more is a bit of a knee jerk reaction at this point in time. There’s been a lot of work done.”

Coun. Carter said he believes there are efficiencies to be found with things such as five roads’ departments. He said they talk about efficiencies but are not seeing tangible results. “We can’t continue to tax people here so they can no longer afford to live here. We are contributing to the economic problem.”

Dyke said he hoped to reinvigorate the service delivery review in 2025 but it would not impact next year’s budget.

Council passed the budget.