Schmale: ‘inevitable Trudeau took this step’

January 9, 2025

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale said the only surprising thing about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement Jan. 6 was that it took the three-term leader so long to make it.

Trudeau, who has been the federal Liberal leader since 2013 and prime minister since 2015, said he will step down once the party has chosen a successor. Governor General Mary Simon has prorogued Parliament until March 24 to allow for that process to unfold.

An election is to take place by Oct. 20.

“I think most people were expecting something to happen, just based on the fact a number of Trudeau’s caucus in different regions – notably Quebec and Atlantic Canada – came out and said he needs to resign,” Schmale said. “Despite every attempt to hang on, I think it was inevitable he took this step.”

It’s been a tough month for Trudeau, who saw his deputy PM and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, suddenly resign Dec. 16. Freeland said she and Trudeau “found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada” in recent weeks.

This came after the federal Conservatives, NDP and Bloc all said they had lost confidence in the prime minister.

“I think there were a number of things stacked against him, and this was kind of his only option left,” Schmale told The Highlander Jan. 7.

With an election on the horizon, the local MP confirmed he is seeking a fourth term in office – this time under the new Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes banner. It was announced in 2023 Brock township would split from its usual running mates to join the new riding of York-Durham, with Peterborough County, Trent Lakes and parts of North Kawartha added.

Schmale said he’s excited to speak with constituents about their concerns ahead of the fall vote. He expects the cost-ofliving crisis, housing and crime to be key themes.

“Our first priority is going to be fixing the budget – we’re now paying more in interest payments on the national debt than some provinces are receiving for health care,” Schmale said.

He believes the Conservatives’ plan to eliminate the federal carbon tax will help to make life more affordable for Canadians.

“It’s responsible for food prices going up, for fuel prices going up. Anyone that manufactures something or receives a product made by something that is impacted by the carbon tax will see an increase in prices across the supply chain. We want to cut that to bring down the cost of living,” Schmale said.

The Conservatives are also pitching a revamped housing initiative, eliminating “bureaucratic red tape” to make it easier for developers to build; new measures to ensure violent repeat offenders receive longer jail sentences; and supports for businesses in the oil and gas, mining and lumber sectors to help reignite Canada’s economy, Schmale added.

He also wants to see more money invested at the Canadian and U.S. border and additional focus on enhancing energy-related trade with America.

“The border is just like Swiss cheese for drugs, automobile thefts, weapons smuggling, human trafficking… we want a safe country for Canadian citizens,” Schmale said.

On the threat of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump imposing tariffs on Canadian imports, Schmale said, “Canada has a lot of what the U.S. and the world is looking for – a good partner with lots of natural resources that has responsible extraction and some of the toughest labour laws anywhere. We can provide that energy – we have the ability.”

HKLB Liberals envision ‘interesting few months’

Lisa Gervais

January 9, 2025

Bonnie French is the spokesperson for Leaning Left in HKLB – a recently-formed group she says has more than 150 members.

She personally thinks Prime Minster Justin Trudeau should have announced his resignation earlier, but has ultimately done the right thing.

“I can like him, but that doesn’t mean that I have to be so emotionally attached to a politician that I can’t see the clarity that the Liberal party was going to be decimated if he stayed in,” she said Jan. 7. “You’ve got to do what’s right for everybody and not just for one person.”

French added, “it’s certainly going to be an interesting few months,” noting her group will meet in two weeks’ time. She is looking forward to a mini-leadership convention and an “open and honest fair process to pick the next person.”

French blamed the media for much of the “hatred and vitriol” directed at Trudeau. She also accused the public of ignorance of the political process, such as what the federal and provincial governments are responsible for. “Now that Trudeau is out of the picture, who are they going to rage against?”

Asked about internal party turmoil leading to the move, such as the resignation of Chrystia Freeland, French said, “obviously, there was some deep-seated disagreement between her and Justin that led to that because she has been his right-hand person since the time he was elected. I understand some of the fiscal things he had proposed to do did not sit well with her. But for her to have done it in the way she did is interesting… I know he’s had some missteps, name me a politician who hasn’t done stupid stuff.”

However, she said Trudeau and his government had done good things.

“He got us all though a worldwide pandemic… far fewer Canadians died because of the steps that he took. He put money into people’s pockets.”

She added he protected women’s rights and promoted females to his cabinet.

Further, he increased the child tax benefit “to lift more kids out of poverty in the last nine years than any previous government. If the Conservatives are elected, a lot of people are going to lose a lot of these things that they have come to rely on.”

The registered Liberal party member said trade agreements required a carbon tax, and Trudeau’s government provided rebates.

Speaking to a Jamie Schmale Facebook post calling for an immediate election, French said, “having to hold a federal election when a party is leaderless and in shambles, that to me says that they’re the weak contenders if they’re so afraid if they can’t let the political process happen.”

Schmale, the Conservative member for HKLB also called the Liberals a “tax and spend” government but French said, “if you look at our tax rates, and what we get for what we pay, we have a higher quality of life than the United States. People live longer in Canada because we have our socialized health care, which is being strangled, and choked and starved to death by our current provincial parties.

“If we are stupid enough to go with putting an extra $5 a month back into our pocket, then you can say goodbye to a lot of the things we enjoy that give us our quality of life.”

CUPE calls for more class supports

Mike Baker

January 9, 2025

After Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) reported an $8 million surplus for the 2023/24 school year, Bill Campbell, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 997, said that money should be invested to improve safety and provide greater supports for students inside the classroom.

Speaking to The Highlander, Campbell said he was dismayed to hear the school board reporting such a large surplus while some of his unionized employees were complaining about a lack of resources – including personnel – to effectively do their jobs.

A survey conducted in October by CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) revealed 88 per cent of CUPE employees at TLDSB say staffing must increase to meet the needs of students.

CUPE 997 represents approximately 800 members across 56 TLDSB schools who work as educational assistants and clerical, maintenance, custodial and technical staff – Campbell said 263, or just under 33 per cent, participated in the survey.

Of those who did respond, more than 75 per cent said they are exposed to a violent incident on school property at least once a month, with approximately 33 per cent exposed to violence daily. Over half say their workspace is evacuated at least once a month due to violent and disruptive behaviour.

There were no specific details provided about violence in Haliburton County schools. Campbell said EAs generally bear the brunt of the behaviours.

“When most of our people got into this job, the role was much more focused on helping students with their educational needs. Whereas now, it’s almost all about being a bodyguard and protecting other students and staff,” Campbell said. “The job has definitely changed over the last 15 to 20 years.”

He puts that down to a lack of funding from the Ontario government – according to the union, TLDSB has consistently received less money year-over-year since 2012.

Campbell argued that if funding had kept up with inflation, the school board would have received an additional $27.3 million for the previous school year, which could have hired an extra 365 fulltime education workers.

Based on local EAs earning $29.05 per hour and working approximately 1,435 hours per year, TLDSB could hire an additional 191 classroom supports with its $8 million surplus. The board currently has 246 full-time EAs.

“A lot of kids today act out because they don’t feel heard, they don’t feel they can communicate their feelings and some of that is because they’re ignored because there just aren’t enough people to support them,” he said.

Campbell believes the issue is worse than it appears – he said many staff have told him they don’t report incidents because everything needs to be logged digitally and EAs don’t have access to board-provided devices at work. He said there are some students who require assistance but don’t get it, with EAs told to focus on those with behavioral issues.

“Students come to school to get a good education, but in some cases they aren’t getting it because everybody is focused on the high-priority students,” Campbell said.

Carolynne Bull, TLDSB director of communications, said the board has invested in additional training for staff in recent years to help support students with social emotional learning skills and managing conflict and stress effectively.

She said in-class staffing is “based on the identified specific student supports required to thrive in the classroom.”

Bull noted TLDSB will reinvest its surplus funds, with senior administration reviewing priorities. She said improvements to special education programming and investing in new technology for skilled trades programs are being considered.

Weather zones

TLDSB has introduced a new zoned approach for inclement weather days, effective Jan. 7.

If transportation is cancelled in one or more zones due to inclement weather, no buses will travel to any schools within the cancelled zone. Schools will remain open, but parents and guardians will be responsible for drop-off and pick-up.

All County schools – Archie Stouffer in Minden, J.D. Hodgson, Stuart Baker, Hal High and the Adult and Alternate Education Centre in Haliburton, and both Cardiff and Wilberforce elementary schools – will fall in Zone 3.

Bus cancellation information can be found on the TLDSB website, mybustoschool.ca, or through local radio stations.

Bill Campbell, president of CUPE local 997 representing school support staff in Haliburton, says more money needs to be spent supporting students in the classroom.

Show me the money to attract candidates

Lisa Gervais

January 9, 2025

Octogenarian County coun. Murray Fearrey has raised the idea of increasing councillor salaries to attract municipal candidates in 2026.

During a Dec. 11 County of Haliburton budget discussion, Fearrey said, “it’s not my nature to advocate more spending, but I have asked the CAO to get some comparators for us. Our average age here is over 70 and we’re not attracting younger people because they can’t leave their jobs and come to work and do this job. And it is a job now. It’s not like it was.”

In the 2022 election, half of all candidates in Haliburton County were acclaimed; Mayor Bob Carter, deputy mayor Lisa Schell and coun Bob Sisson in Minden Hills; Fearrey, deputy mayor Walt McKechnie and councillors Barry Boice and Tammy Donaldson in Dysart et al; deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux and Julia Shortreed in Algonquin Highlands; and deputy mayor Cec Ryall and councillors Cam McKenzie and Ruth Strong in Highlands East.

Coun. Liz Danielsen agreed with Fearrey, saying, “75 per cent of us are seniors, which is not representative of our constituents, despite us having been elected to the positions we have.” She said if council was to consider a pay increase, “we could do it over a period of a couple of years, so there’s less impact on the budget overall.”

Carter said he supported Fearrey, but unlike Danielsen, thought it would be difficult to phase in a pay increase. “Because one of the notions of why we would have an increase is to try to attract people to the job. And we almost need to have that determined up front at the time of the next election.”

He said potential candidates would need to be able to determine if it was financially possible to be a councillor. “As coun. Fearrey says, this is no longer a part-time job for the most part. And if we’re going to ask for people to dedicate all of their time to this and do it right, I think that they have to be compensated for it.”

Fearrey noted there was unspent money in reserves. He asked if there was a reason they could not take $80,000 from that to give each councillor a $10,000 raise. “I think if we bumped it once or twice, people would start to think ‘okay, maybe now I can work two days a week, or three days a week, and I can go to council.”

He said he finds the job today “takes a lot of time.” He said the budget documents he received from Dysart would take him a full day to go through.

He added he is not personally looking for a pay rise.

“I’ve been one of the worst down here to say it’s a community job. We shouldn’t get paid. Well, you know what? Things have changed. Over the last few years, it’s much more complicated. If we don’t get it (the pay) up so it’s attractive, and wait to the very last minute to do it, people won’t (run). People need to think about this if they want to change their life. They need to start thinking about it a year ahead if they are going to run.”

Less than a living wage

CAO Gary Dyke said there were a couple of ways to address the council pay issue.

He said staff could do a review, bring the information back to council, and council decide if it’s appropriate to raise pay and make it effective for the next council. That way, it wouldn’t look like the current council is giving itself a pay increase.

He said staff could then modify the election packages along with lower-tier governments, “where all that information is made available well in advance of the election, so if you’re considering running it would talk about remuneration, obligations, those types of things going forward.” As such, he said anybody considering running in 2026 would know how much they’d be making.

Danielsen said they’d have to encourage the lower-tier, since that is where most of the salary comes from.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize that members of council make less than a living wage,” she said.

As an example, Highlands East council has voted to increase council pay effective Jan. 1. The mayor will now be paid $32,500 a year, the deputy mayor $26,150 and councillors, $22,025. Eight councillors also get paid more for being on County council.

CAO/treasurer Brittany McCaw said there had not been an increase since 2018 and she was proposing “fair remuneration” after reviewing other salaries across Haliburton County, Hastings County, and Peterborough County.

The average salary in Ontario in 2024 is estimated to be $67,588.04 per year. However, the actual amount earned can vary widely by area.

Council asked Dyke to prepare a review of County council compensation levels for consideration at a Feb. 12 meeting.

Former Kilcoo director settles civil lawsuits

Mike Baker

January 9, 2025

A pair of civil lawsuits alleging a former director of Minden’s Kilcoo Camp sexually assaulted a student camper and former staffer has been settled out of court.

In July 2023, David ‘Lub’ Latimer was accused of manipulation, false imprisonment and sexual assault in suits filed at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Bracebridge. He had been a director at Kilcoo from 1985 until his resignation in the summer of 2023, shortly before news of the suits became public.

The first plaintiff, a Toronto resident and 39 years old when the suits were filed, claims she was abused between 1990 and 1993, with the second plaintiff, a 33-yearold from Stouffville, saying they were first assaulted in 2009, shortly after becoming a staff member, and continuing until 2013.

None of the allegations contained in the suits were ever presented in court and there have been no criminal charges laid against Latimer, who has maintained his innocence. His lawyer, Scott Hutchison, declined to comment when approached by The Highlander this week.

Toronto-based civil litigation attorney, Gillian Hnatiw, who represented the two plaintiffs said the settlement was “resolved by mutual agreement of the parties… my clients are pleased to have things resolved. At the moment, they have no further comment.”

A report published by CBC last month claims a statement posted to the Kilcoo Camp website on Dec. 12 said, “the Camp and all involved have learned from, and are grateful for, the frank and positive discussions that have led to this outcome.” The statement further noted Latimer has retired as director and will have no involvement at Kilcoo moving forward.

The camp also said it has created a sexual harassment and abuse policy, and antibullying policy that will evolve to respond to camp management best practices – with both available on its website at kilcoo.com.

As of Jan. 8, all reference to Latimer had been removed.

Kim Bouchard, the camp’s director of operations, did not respond when asked to comment on the settlement. While Kilcoo was named as a defendant in the suits, Bouchard said in 2023 “these troubling allegations only involve the actions of the former director.”

Details of the settlement, which was announced Dec. 12, have not been released.

County declares intimate partner violence an epidemic

Lisa Gervais

January 9, 2025

The YWCA Peterborough Haliburton and Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre conservatively estimate that more than 2,500 women in Haliburton County have, or are now, experiencing intimate partner violence.

In making a presentation to County council Dec. 11, YWCA executive director Kim Dolan said, “we know that 30 per cent of women over the age of 15 experience gender-based violence. It happens to our girls, our friends, our mothers, our aunts, and we have worked with many women who are 70 and older.”

Dolan, Nycole Duncan of the women’s centre and manager of HERS in Minden, and Brittany MacMillan, executive director of the assault centre spoke to councillors.

Following an inquest into the deaths of three women in Renfrew, the delegation was seeking a County declaration of intimate partner violence as an epidemic. They also wanted recommendations from the inquest to be referred to the Community Safety and Well-Being department.

On Sept. 22, 2015, three Renfrew women were murdered by a man with whom each had a past relationship. The tragic event highlighted critical failures in the systems meant to protect victims of intimate partner violence. The findings were released June 28, 2022. In total, 86 recommendations for change were made, speaking to oversight and accountability, system approaches, collaboration and communication, funding, education and training, measures addressing perpetrators, intervention and safety.

Another report, The Mass Casualty Commission, was completed in March 2023, providing 130 recommendations. It declared the epidemic, calling for a public health approach, and mobilizing a societywide response. Other recent reports include the national action plan to end gender-based violence and the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

The three delegates said femicide numbers are trending up.

Dolan added the rural nature of Haliburton County makes it a dangerous place for some women.

“Rural realities are significant barriers for women with, and without, children. There’s physical and social isolation; there are transportation challenges; there are issues related to income and a living wage,” Dolan said.

She added, “they may not have good, reliable internet; they may not be able to afford it. And we’ve heard stories from women for years that when their abusive husband or boyfriend leaves for work during the day, the phones go with them.

“We’ve got the issues of economy and ecology and for many people a connection to the land; and that comes with access to, and familiarity with, guns.”

Worse in rural areas

The three added there are a lot of reasons that women in rural and remote communities are at an increased risk of violence, including traditional beliefs about gender roles, the permanence of marriage, “til death do us part,” shame, blame for themself or from themself or others, and secrecy.

OPP reports indicate that in rural areas violence is 75 per cent higher than for women in urban areas.

The delegation said they were compelled to take action as during a 104-week period, 124 women in Ontario lost their lives. Coun. Walt McKechnie commented, “there’s a lot of cases where this goes on for a long time, and the neighbours know about it, the family knows about it, and the police probably even know about it, but everybody’s really involved when finally, somebody gets killed.” He agreed that society must get involved and the police and courts crack down on offenders.

Referencing the May Isles’ inquest in Collingwood, in which a man killed his former wife and then took his own life, the delegates said, “one of the recommendations that came forward from that inquest was a call for a robust, coordinated community response to violence, because we all have a piece in this.”

Coun. Jennifer Dailloux said, “I’m very much in support of Haliburton County signing this and sending it on to the appropriate authorities. I am troubled, as we all are, by the statistics and the growth in femicides that you’ve shared with us today.

“I’m not at all hopeful for 2025 and the reason for that is how vulnerable we are economically and socially in our County these days and across Ontario, with the cost of housing, the cost of living, the challenges in finding sustainable work. All of these things I believe, contribute to the frustration people experience that are often taken out in the household.”

The County made the declaration.

Ryall elected vice chair of new health unit

Submitted

January 9, 2025

The recently merged health unit covering Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton, Northumberland and Peterborough counties met briefly for the first time Jan. 2, where Highlands East deputy mayor, Cec Ryall, was elected vice chair of the new board.

Following months of debate and analysis, the boards of the old Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district health unit (HKPR) and Peterborough Public Health (PPH) elected to amalgamate their two entities in December, with the new partnership ratified effective Jan. 1.

The new organization will be known as the Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough health unit (HKNP).

In its first order of business, the new board voted to elect Ron Black, deputy mayor of Selwyn township, as chair, with Ryall serving as the second in command.

“It’s being done more so for the infrastructure and to have more resources to perform what we’re already doing now. There’s going to be a lot of people thinking this is not a good idea… but our public health units are in trouble,” Ryall said in a December interview. “At the very least, we hope this will stop service reductions and staffing issues… I’m very optimistic we’re going to come out of this as a better unit.”

HKPR projected a 2024/25 fiscal year-end deficit of $188,476, while PPH anticipated a $1.2 million budget shortfall this year. The Ontario government has committed just over $10.1 million to cover all merger-related expenses over the next year. Money can also be used for capital improvements and program stabilization.

Public health units deliver a wide range of services, including immunization clinics, early childhood programs, sexual health clinics, water quality testing, and food and nutrition training, while offering support in mental health, harm reduction, pregnancy and parenting. The board will meet Jan. 16.

Storm record win and a tie

Lisa Gervais

January 9, 2025

This past weekend marked a successful set of games for the U11 Rep Cottage Country Building Supplies squad.

On Saturday morning (Jan. 4), we squared off against a Millbrook team that had our number the last outing.

The S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena was full of Storm fans that came out to support our team.

Sin bin trouble early put us on the penalty kill in the first minute of the game, but a hard-nosed shift from Chase Casey put us on the board. A follow-up shift by Casey tallied another marker to hold an early 2-0 lead with a nice rebound goal.

From there, it was full steam ahead for the Storm.

Nolan Carpenter had a lone man rush that found the twine midway through the first, followed by a quick exchange from Carter McCord with a nice wrister from the slot.

The first two periods were marked with extensive penalty kills from the hard work of Everett Bjelis and Lucas Lawson, just missing on some shorthanded tallies.

Heading into the pivotal third, goalie Kolby Hogg held a tight cage, rolling out a shutout with strong crease play.

Penalty troubles ultimately surrendered a couple of tallies but McCord put the final marker on the board to secure a 5-2 win with a great team effort across the board.

On Sunday (Jan. 5), we had another opportunity for a revenge game against the Newcastle Stars. Knowing a full effort was going to be provided from our opposition, we came out ready to play the hard-nosed affair.

Will Brown tallied our first goal with a timely shot over the shoulder of the opposition.

Solid forechecking from the likes of Miller Brown, Ethan Draker, and Jase Jones laid the foundation for a follow-up goal from McCord.

On the back end, staunch defensive work from goalie Mason Bishop, and defenders Wyatt Braun and Olivia Emmerson kept the competition to a 2-1 lead rolling into the third.

A wicked wrister from the point off the crossbar from D-man Beau Gilmour left a rebound out front, which was put away by McCord.

Unfortunately, a late period push on the PK saw the Stars tie the game and that’s how it ended. A rigorous game tied at 3-3. We missed the tenacity of Jackson Mihalic over the two home games. Submitted.

Noteworthy: The U15 Rep Haliburton Timbermart team qualified for the International Silverstick Tournament and will be playing in Forest, Ontario this weekend. The U13 Curry Chevrolet team qualified for the International Silverstick Tournament and will be playing in Pelham this weekend.

Huskies load up for playoffs

Mike Baker

January 9, 2025

Haliburton County Huskies coach Ryan Ramsay predicts it’ll be a rat race for playoff positioning over the next several weeks, with the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) regular season into its penultimate month.

The hometown team sits third in the East Conference with 53 points from 37 games, boasting a record of 26 wins, 10 losses and one overtime defeat. They’re four points back of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens in second place, and nine behind the table-topping Trenton Golden Hawks.

It was a busy festive period for the Huskies, who played five games between Dec. 20 and Jan. 6, going 3-1-1. They bested the Markham Royals 5-2 in road action Dec. 20; fell to the Golden Hawks 2-0 on Dec. 21; defeated the Stouffville Spirit 4-1 on Dec. 29; and beat nearby neighbours the Lindsay Muskies 7-2 in the ‘Battle of Hwy. 35’ on New Year’s Eve.

The team dropped its first game of the new year Jan. 6, a 4-3 double overtime loss on the road to the Cobourg Cougars.

“I think we played pretty well for the most part over the holidays – we had some good crowds in here [at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena], which always helps with the atmosphere and the energy levels of the boys,” Ramsay said. “I like the look of our team… I’m seeing improvements every game.”

With the OJHL trade deadline Jan. 10, Ramsay has been busy tweaking his young squad.

There have been six new additions since Dec. 20 – sixfoot-three defenceman Luke Hampel arrived from the King Rebellion in exchange for forward Adam Smeeton and blueliner Ryan Fairbairn. Ramsay said Hampel is a large-bodied defenceman who will be relied on to play big minutes down the stretch. He had five points in 19 games with the Rebellion this season.

The rights to 20-year-old left winger Tai York came via the Cobourg Cougars – where he played for part of the 2021/22 season. The Cougars secured defenceman Carson Littlejohn in the deal. York has enjoyed a blistering start to his Huskies career, putting up nine points in five games after scoring five in 14 for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the United States Hockey League.

With rookie goaltender Carter Nadon sidelined for the remainder of the season through injury, Ramsay went shopping for a backstop who could compete for Tyler Hodges for starts. He landed on Stephen Toltl, a 19-year-old who played in six games for the Spirit this season, going 2-4 and boasting a 2.69 goals against average and .921 save percentage. He most recently represented the Greater Sudbury Cubs in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Daniel Vasic, an 18-year-old centreman, arrived via the Leamington Flyers – where he put up 18 points in 22 games.

A fifth deal was announced Jan. 7, with forward Nolan Ling returning to the OJHL after a season-and-a-half with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he put up 34 points in 90 games. He previously appeared for the Golden Hawks, Cougars and Toronto Patriots during the 2021/22 and 2022/21 seasons.

There was another move on Jan. 8, with Ramsay securing 18-year-old centreman Kieran Litterick from the Pickering Panthers. The coach said the six-foot-two forward is a “big time” improvement down the middle. Ryder Dagenais and William Stewart were sent to Pickering as part of the deal.

“We think we have a really good team now, but everyone else is improving too,” Ramsay said. “There’s always a need to get better – there’s no such thing as a perfect team.”

Ramsay will be hoping his young charges are as close as possible to perfect Jan. 11 as the Canadiens visit Minden for a much anticipated four-pointer. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.

“JRC is always a good team – we’re right on their tail and trying our best to chase them,” Ramsay said. “It’s a big game – always an interesting match-up… we’re both fast and skilled teams. We’re going to have to play hard, not turn the puck over, and stay out of the penalty box, which has been a little bit of a problem lately.”

Learn about Lapine at Agnes Jamieson

Mike Baker

January 9, 2025

Shannon Kelly says anyone looking for an education on a core piece of the County’s cultural history should make a point to visit Minden’s Agnes Jamieson Gallery over the next few weeks.

The facility reopened Jan. 2, with a display of paintings from renowned artist André Lapine hanging on its walls. Kelly, manager of cultural services for the Township of Minden Hills, said she always likes to usher in the new year by honouring the man who served as the gallery’s initial inspiration.

“He’s the reason the gallery was established in 1981 by Agnes Jamieson, because she had access to this amazing collection of pieces by Lapine, who was quite well known throughout his career,” Kelly said. “He lived his twilight years in the community and, really, finished his career in Minden. He’s buried in Minden with his wife. So, it’s a nice opportunity for us to reflect on his contributions and bring these beautiful pieces out for people to enjoy.”

The gallery has around 100 original pieces in its collection – many of them donated by Minden’s former reeve Frank Welch. Kelly selected about 30 pieces to be featured this year.

“The selected pieces reflect the four themes that Lapine was known for, that were his main strengths: his drawings and illustrative work; paintings of horses; his fascination with light and how he captured that in his paintings; and his work with snow. He had this ability to really define different winter landscapes and make them jump off the canvas,” Kelly said.

While there aren’t any new Lapine pieces, Kelly said there are some that haven’t been displayed for several years. There’s also the usual favourites, notably Horses Hauling Logs (1946) and Winter Storm (1945).

Alongside the Lapine display, there will be nine pieces showcased in the Kirkwood Gallery that Kelly says are all new additions – four from Tory Hill-based Gary Blundell and Victoria Ward, who brought their Burner Herzog exhibit to the gallery in 2024; four from Robert Niezen, a Peterborough-based artist who last had his work displayed in 2022’s Cross Cut exhibit; and a pastel piece of the Gull River from the late Lois Raw, a County-based artist.

The displays will remain in place until Feb. 8.

Looking ahead, Kelly said 2025 is shaping up to be a busy year for the gallery.

“We have a ton of stuff going on – we’re doing our Family Day open house in February in partnership with the Minden Hills Cultural Centre Foundation (MHCCF). We have documentary screenings every month with different themes. We’ve got March Break activities every morning throughout the break,” she said.

The gallery is also hosting its second annual Archie Stouffer Elementary School (ASES) student art exhibit, opening in February. This year’s theme will see local youth apply their own interpretation to the biodiversity of The Land Between and what it means to them.

Kelly said MHCCF donated $250 to ASES to purchase art supplies for the students to use for their pieces.

“Last year’s event sort of just came together but it was very well received – we had a lot of people on opening night and the kids were so excited to see what they had made up on the wall,” Kelly said. “It’s all about inspiring youth to be creative and show them the possibilities [of having work featured professionally].”

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