The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust (HHLT) held a reception at Queen’s Park June 7 to introduce the Highlands Corridor project to provincial politicians and their staff.

In addition to local MPP Laurie Scott, speakers included MPP John Yakabuski, the parliamentary assistant to the minister of the environment, conservation and parks, HHLT board members, Sheila Ziman, Jennifer Dailloux, who is also deputy mayor of Algonquin Highlands, Peter Kendall, executive director of the Schad Foundation, John Harbinson, HHLT partner in conservation, leader of the Ontario NDP party, Marit Stiles, and MPP Sandy Shaw, the critic for environment, conservation and parks.

The keynote speaker was Paul Heaven, senior wildlife biologist and consultant at Glenside Ecological Services Limited.

“Paul presented several maps of the Highlands Corridor and made the case that the extensive Crown land that sits in the corridor be designated by the Province of Ontario as a conservation reserve,” the Land Trust said in a press release.

Conservation reserves are a type of protected area intended to safeguard significant natural and cultural features. Conservation reserves are an important part of the protected area system in Ontario, covering 1.4 per cent of the province. There are currently 259 reserves in Ontario, including two in Haliburton County.

“Paul outlined four compelling reasons to name the Highlands Corridor as a conservation reserve,” the release said.

First and foremost is biodiversity. “Through species at risk investigations and habitat assessments, we have come to understand the Highlands Corridor is rich in biodiversity providing habitat for over 40 species at risk, 25 provincially significant species and 43 regionally rare species,” the Land Trust said.

Second is flood mitigation. “The Highlands Corridor is comprised of provincially significant wetlands, rocky barrens and forests, including old growth forests such as the Catchacoma Forest. Through wetland mapping, we know the area has exceptionally high wetland representation at 17.9 per cent. For an area that has been subjected to flooding in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2019, maintaining wetlands is a critical strategy to mitigating the impacts of flooding,” The Land Trust said.

Third, the Highlands Corridor significantly helps with long-term climate change resilience, the release added.

“The forests and wetlands sequester and store vast amounts of carbon. For wildlife communities, the Highlands Corridor maintains habitat connectivity, thereby allowing populations to move when faced with climate phenomena.”

Fourthly, they said the Highlands Corridor provides a significant opportunity to apply landscape conservation at a meaningful scale, with over 60,000 hectares of unceded Crown land extending between three provincial parks.

“Through raising the level of protection of the Crown land to conservation reserve, we can ensure these natural assets are not lost,” the Land Trust said.

The County of Haliburton will embark upon a month-long ‘fall in love with winter’ campaign next February as it looks to expand its Hike Haliburton winter edition.

Manager of tourism, Tracie Bertrand, made the recommendation at a June 14 council meeting and received support.

Bertrand said the campaign will take place the last three weekends of February 2024.

“This will help to capitalize on the increased visitation over Valentine’s Day and the Family Day weekend,” she said. She added in addition to Hike Haliburton, it would incorporate and promote other existing events, such as the Dorset Snowball winter carnival, Abbey Gardens’ cupid carnival, and any others that are taking place.

She said staff would use those existing offerings as “anchors” to encourage stakeholders to develop other products or special promotions the tourism department would help market as part of the ‘fall in love with winter’ campaign. She is also encouraging continued cross-promotion of events and experiences.

“Data results indicate a strong interest from the public on other events and happenings or experiences taking place around Hike Haliburton,” Bertrand noted in a written report. She said they were planning to leverage the Hike Haliburton brand all-year long, update the map and evergreen content, and continue with the added value signature picnic backpack program, to encourage people to stay overnight at accommodations in what is otherwise a very quiet time.

She said planning for the ‘fall in love with winter’ campaign will begin in October.

As for last year’s hike, Bertrand said there was a renewed interest among hike leaders in offering unique hikes, including a full-moon hike in -32C weather. There were also new hikes at Crane Lake and in the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands provincial park.

She noted visits to the Hike Haliburton website increased 66 per cent from January 2020 to January 2023. As for attendees, about one-third came from outside of the County, including Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough, the GTA, Hastings, Barrie, Central Ontario and Guelph.

Resident Sentiment Survey

Bertrand also discussed results of a resident sediment survey (RSS), “to establish and benchmark local attitudes towards tourism growth, the visitor economy, and tourism development,” in the County for the next five years.

She said information collected through the annual process will be used to help guide her departments’ annual work plan “to ensure the opinions of residents are being considered when looking at the growth and development of tourism and the visitor economy in the County.”

She noted the RSS was in the County’s Destination Management Plan.

In analyzing results, Bertrand said they had 592 responses, including 74 per cent permanent, and 24 per cent seasonal residents. She said an average of 8.3 out of 10 said the Highlands was a “very attractive place to visit.” In addition:

• 68 per cent agree the County should invite more visitors throughout the year.

• 68 per cent do not rely on the visitor economy for their household income.

• 43 per cent of 18 to 44-year-olds do rely on it for one to 50 per cent of thei household income.

• 66 per cent agree the visitor economy is respectful of them and their community.

• 63 per cent agree tourism increased quality of life.

• 85 per cent agree the visitor economy supports local business;

• 65 per cent agree the visitor economy has a positive impact on the economy.

• The level of familiarity with the County’s tourism department was 4.6 out of 10.

Bertrand said there were “excellent” comments to open-ended questions, such as, “residents need to understand they are an important part of making Haliburton a destination. People make the place what it is; people make Haliburton.” Another was, “as a local business owner, I feel like all we hear is how tourism somehow damages Haliburton. I can tell you, that without tourism and seasonal residents, local businesses like ours would not survive.”

Algonquin Highlands unveiled a new municipal website June 20, with communications coordinator, Chad Ingram, saying the updated virtual space “is fresh, modern and ultimately allows the township to better serve the community.”

Council supported the project last fall, with the township contracting GHD Digital to carry out the work. Ingram pegged the total cost at just over $21,000.

“This has been a long project, a huge project… but we’re finally there,” Ingram said at a recent council meeting.

A revamped home page includes a customizable news and notices section, which Ingram says will allow visitors to choose what information they see. There is space to promote upcoming events, while popular tourist attractions such as the Dorset Tower, a myriad of trail systems, and the Dorset and Stanhope heritage museums also featured.

There are clickable buttons for information on council, recreation, waste and recycling, planning, property taxes, and public works.

Ingram said the main search bar is “enhanced by Google”, meaning individual searches on the new site will run through the tech giant’s virtual library.

“In theory, it should be easier to find our stuff,” Ingram said.

The new website also offers electronic forms and e-commerce capabilities, so residents can do more of their business with the township online. The e-commerce function will not be available immediately, Ingram says, but residents can complete a form to sign up for e-billing.

Ingram said a key feature is that the new website will “display well” on tablets and smartphones, which was a major complaint of the old website.

He noted staff had been able to access the site during beta demonstrations in recent months and that most feedback had been positive.

While the new site won’t directly house the township’s Bang the Table forum, released in 2021 to engage with residents on key issues online, links will be provided when discussions are live.

Some of the features, such as colour scheme, will remain the same, but Ingram said he has the capability to edit the website at any time. He noted this would be a big help when promoting upcoming events and timely news.

“I love what I’m seeing. I like all the different ways you can get into the guts of the township, what we’re offering and [making it easier to find] whatever you need to find,” said deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux.

The site went live at 9 a.m. June 20. To visit, go to algonquinhighlands.ca.

Minden Hills’ new urgent care clinic will open for the first time next Friday, June 30 and operate noon to 6 p.m. throughout the Canada Day long weekend.

It will continue to operate on weekends until fully staffed, the Ontario government said in a press release announcing it is providing money to the Kawartha North Family Health Team (KNFHT) to open the clinic in the former Minden emergency department site.

The province made the announcement June 20.

The clinic will provide routine and urgent care to people in the community, and has been described as somewhere between a walk-in clinic and an ER department.

The ministry said it would also provide one-time funding to buy equipment.

KNFHT executive director, Marina Hodson, told a community meeting June 9, she did not think it would take long for the ministry to approve a clinic for the town after its ER was closed June 1, with consolidation of ER services at the Haliburton site.

“KNFHT has provided care to the Minden Hills community since 2007,” Hodson said of the announcement, adding, “we are very proud to be responding to a community need and continuing our commitment to service by operating an urgent care clinic at the Minden site.”

KNFHT has clinics in Fenelon Falls and Bobcaygeon, with County residents attending those sites.

Planning is underway to operate up to seven days a week, based on the community’s needs. The clinic will be operated and staffed by KNFHT nurse practitioners and registered practical nurses who will provide care to patients with unexpected but non-life-threatening health care concerns through walk-ins and booked appointments.

‘Urgent care not same as ER’

The province said in order to accelerate implementation, it is “working quickly with the KNFHT and Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS).

“KNFHT is continuing to engage the community to determine how the clinic can best serve the people of Minden Hills,” the press release stated. “As a result, while the clinic itself will be managed entirely by KNFHT and its board of directors, it will be located at the former Minden emergency department site, so no major renovations are required.”

The province said HHHS is supporting the operation of the clinic.

“HHHS is pleased to support the KNFHT’s operation of an urgent care clinic at the Minden site,” said interim CEO Veronica Nelson. “This initiative has led to an expedited implementation of an urgent care clinic for our community.”

Minister of health, Sylvia Jones, added, “we recognize the need for all Ontarians to have access to convenient care, closer to home, no matter where they live in the province.” She added her government was proud to be a partner with community partners to help improve care for residents of Minden Hills.

Jones refused to step in after HHHS made the decision to shutter the Minden site, leading to its closure.

MPP Laurie Scott said, “the quick action taken by the KNFHT and supported by HHHS, with support from the ministry is good news, ensuring Minden Hills will have access to an urgent care clinic very soon. Thank you to everyone involved, for working together to make this happen.”

Current hours of operation will be posted on the KNFHT, HHHS and Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Ontario Health Team websites.

Patrick Porzuczek, spokesperson and founder of Save Minden ER and Minden Matters, said, “The Ford government funding the clinic does not mitigate the responsibility for allowing the Minden ER to close.

“The closure of the ER has negative impacts on traumatic instances like heart attacks, immediate cardiac care, strokes, allergic reactions, and urgent community health. The closure has created a hole in health care within the community, and will continue with the pattern we are seeing across the province.”

Porzuczek added urgent care is not the same as an ER and people need accessible local, immediate, access to emergency services when they are faced with life-threatening conditions.

“Hallway health and eight-hour-plus wait times are not acceptable. This does not equal quality health care in Minden or across the province.”

He said the ministry of health “must take immediate steps to reopen the ER as quickly as possible in order to save lives in the community.”

He noted it was the only ER located centrally between Lindsay and Huntsville.

Porzuczek went on to say, “the Ontario Government should be working closely with the Minden and Haliburton communities and learn from their mistakes. It’s not political gain. It’s not about the PC party or Laurie Scott taking accolades for urgent care coming to Minden. It should be about making health care better and stronger for rural Ontario and learning from this community. Together we can rewrite history and implement a health care system that will work collaboratively for all of Ontario.”

Christmas is coming a few months early for Haliburton-based thrifters as Dysart township prepares to host its second annual ‘New to You’ community yard sale.

The event debuted to much fanfare last summer, with over two dozen locals setting up shop at the parking lot at A.J. LaRue Arena, looking for new homes for items such as clothing, toys, furniture and more.

Organizer, John Watson, told The Highlander there has been significant demand for a second iteration.

“It was so well received last year – we had over 20 sellers, and hundreds of people stop by throughout the day. It’s a great opportunity for people to find all sorts of new to you treasures,” Watson, the township’s environmental manager, said. “It’s an important event for us because it helps to divert items from the landfill, supporting Dysart’s reuse activities.”

He noted the township has been recognized provincially for the event, winning a gold promotion and education award from the Municipal Waste Association. “We’re really excited about that because it shows other places are looking at what we’re doing here and can see that it’s working.”

The sale is taking place July 8 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. There’s space for 35 stalls, with registration costing $30 plus HST. Participants are asked to bring their own chairs, tables and cash float. If someone wishes to set up a tent, Watson said they must provide weights to secure it, as nothing will be allowed to penetrate the asphalt.

Having an event like this in a central location is appealing, Watson said.

“Because we’re so spread out in Dysart, it makes it hard for people to hold yard sales on their own property. Bringing everyone together in one space makes it nice and convenient for both sellers and shoppers,” he said.

“For me, it’s neat seeing all the different things people are selling. Last year, I heard so many people walk up to booths and go ‘oh, no way, I can’t believe you have this’, so it’s a great opportunity for people to add to their collections or make nice finds.”

Several other businesses and organizations are getting in on the action again this year. The Haliburton County Public Library is hosting a book sale at the Dysart branch, while the Lily Ann Thrift Store and SIRCH Thrift Warehouse are also hosting sales on the day.

Interested vendors can register until July 7 by visiting dysartetal.ca/newtoyou, or contacting the township at 705-457-1740.

U-Links is again inviting community groups in Haliburton County to submit their research project proposals for the upcoming academic year.

“This call aims to foster partnerships between community organizations and student researchers from Trent University and Fleming College to address important issues impacting the social, cultural, environmental, and economic aspects of the County,” program coordinator Frank Figuli said.

Since 1999, U-Links has connected community organizations with student researchers, resulting in numerous research projects. Figuli said by participating, organizations gain access to valuable research insights that can inform decision-making processes, increase capacity, and contribute to the betterment of the County.

Even if you have no research background, Figuli said U-Links’ staff can guide organizations through the process.

“All you need is an idea or identified problem within Haliburton County, and our team will assist you in developing a comprehensive project proposal and identifying the appropriate research questions.”

Figuli added whether project ideas relate to community development, health sciences, forensics, environmental sciences, or any other field, ULinks’ professionals will provide the necessary support.

A few examples of ongoing community-based research projects include: assessing Haliburton for agriculture and vendor needs; an evaluation assessment for Abbey Retreat Centre programs; and an evaluation of Haliburton County Lake Associations on water quality testing data and protocols.

In addition to research projects, U-Links also offers opportunities for communityservice learning (CSL). This unique form of experiential education allows students and community members to collaborate on specific activities or events with tangible outcomes. One example is the annual Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival, where Environmental Science students from Trent University and community members work together to organize and facilitate educational activity stations.

The deadline for submitting project ideas or topics is July 14. U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research PO Box 655, Minden, ON K0M 2K0; 705-286-2411; admin@ulinks.ca; ulinks.ca . Figuli is at coordinator@ulinks.ca or phone the office.

Haliburton Highlands Secondary School athlete, Evan Backus, made the podium at OFSAA June 10, garnering a silver medal in the 300m hurdles.

Coach Karen Gervais said Evan started the day strong by winning his qualifying heat to make the finals.

Evan said, “I thought I wouldn’t do as well for the heats because I was put in lane eight, which I thought was a little bit of a disadvantage, but I ended up coming first in my heat.”

For the finals, Evan was seeded third but ran a personal best of 42.01 to place second in the province.

Running the race, Evan said he was aware of the hurdler in front of him, “and was trying my hardest to catch him, but once I crossed the finish line, I just didn’t care anymore, because I knew I got second place.”

Running the race, Evan said he was aware of the hurdler in front of him, “and was trying my hardest to catch him, but once I crossed the finish line, I just didn’t care anymore, because I knew I got second place.”

“It was really cool. Once I saw that there was a podium, all I really wanted to do was stand up there and have my name announced. It was a really cool experience to be up on there.”

Evan said making it required “lots of hard work.” He added he had a lot of help from coaches, senior athletes and friends.

Evan also finished 12th in the 100m sprint hurdles June 9.

Gervais said the top 24 athletes from the six different regions in the province compete at OFSAA.

“It has been many years since a Haliburton athlete has made the podium in track and field,” she added. “OFSAA is dubbed the third most competitive high school track meet in North America.”

Gervais said she asked Walter Tose, who used to coach at the school and keep records, when the last Red Hawk athlete to medal at OFSAA would have been.

Tose said, “I’m pretty sure that Matt Duchene was the most recent OFSAA medalist before Evan, winning bronze in the novice boys’ discus in 2006.

“Kate Campbell won gold in the 300m hurdles in 1998 and followed up with a bronze in the 400m hurdles two years later. Nicole Manary won bronze at OFSAA in novice girls discus in 2002, and Kate Dawson won bronze in senior girls’ javelin at OFSAA in 2005. And, of course, Lesley Tashlin won bronze at OFSAA in 1987. There are several other HHSS athletes who had top four to eight finishes at OFSAA as well over the years and several other ‘should have been, could have been’,” Tose said.