JUNE 2018 | VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
LOCAL WOMAN SPEARHEADS PROBIOTIC SOIL INNOVATION POVERTY, HOUSING, FOOD: ELECTION ISSUES
SERVING KAWARTHA LAKES
YOUR NEIGHBOUR COULD BE HUNGRY
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table of contents 7
LOCAL WOMAN SPEARHEADS PROBIOTIC SOIL INNOVATION
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10,000 OF OUR NEIGHBOURS DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT
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21 CHARITIES IN 21 DAYS
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MAKE POVERTY, HOUSING AND FOOD INSECURITY
AN ELECTION ISSUE
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KAWARTHA LAKES PLANT A ROW GROW A ROW 2018
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THE LATEST BUZZ ON WORLD BEE DAY IN KAWARTHA LAKES
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SHOW THE LOVE
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RUSSIAN FARMERS TO LEARN ABOUT FARMING LIFE IN THE
KAWARTHA LAKES
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NOURISH AND DEVELOP HELPS THOSE WITHIN A 50KM
RADIUS OF CANNINGTON
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HOW STANDUP COMEDY SUCCEEDS IN AG COUNTRY
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FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS WITH JAMIE MORRIS
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KAWARTHA LAKES HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT PLAN
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LOCAL AG EVENTS
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JUST IN TIME WITH IAN MCKECHNIE
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KAWARTHA LAKES VIGNETTE
LOCAL WOMAN SPEARHEADS PROBIOTIC SOIL INNOVATION
YOUR NEIGHBOUR COULD BE HUNGRY
ADVERTISING
SALES TEAM JUDITH STOLTZ SALES REP
JENNIFER BAIN SALES REP
Volume 1, Issue 3 • Publisher: Fireside Publishing House, a proudly Canadian company The Lindsay Advocate is published monthly and distributed to a wide variety of businesses and locations within Kawartha Lakes and North Durham Region. We are a proud member of the Lindsay and District Chamber of Commerce. Printed by Maracle Inc. Cover photo: Chris Cookman (L) Jacob Cookman (R) standing, with Kim Thompson Cover photo taken by: Roderick Benns Publisher and Writer-at-Large: Roderick Benns Advertising/Editorial inquiries: 705-341-1496 Contributing Editor and Writer-at-Large: Trevor Hutchinson • Contributing Writers: Ian McKechnie, Jamie Morris Research, Strategy & Development: Joli Scheidler-Benns Advertising Sales: Judith Stoltz, Jennifer Bain • Graphic Design: Robyn Barton of Barton Creative Co. Twitter: The Lindsay Advocate @lindsayontario, Roderick Benns @roderickbenns • Facebook: /The Lindsay Advocate The Lindsay Advocate is independently owned and operated. The opinions expressed herein are the views of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine. Photos, text, and art work contained in The Lindsay Advocate are copyrighted and may not be published, broadcast, or rewritten without the express permission of the Publisher. Liability for incorrectly displayed advertising is limited to publishing corrections or advertising credit for subsequent issues. The Publisher reserves the right to reject, revise, cancel, omit, discontinue or even decline to print advertising without reason or liability, and without notice. The Publisher has made every effort to ensure information contained herein was accurate at press time. The Publisher does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for damage, loss, or disruption caused by errors or omissions.
www.lindsayadvocate.ca
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Helping the less fortunate
It’s a shame abour your name
I picked up a copy of your first edition at the Ross Memorial Hospital and found it very informative. I was truly saddened to learn that Global Human Resources is taking advantage of the disadvantaged in our area at the same time the food banks and soup kitchens are working so very hard to help the same group. Hopefully the basic income will be of help to many of our underprivileged. My eyes are pretty good but reading the pages with print over colour (the opioid and trolley stories) could be difficult for older readers with poor sight. Great magazine! I look forward to your next copy. - Bev Newman
It’s a shame about your name. I have walked past it at Sobeys (in Fenelon Falls) many times but did not pick it up, because I have no real connection to Lindsay. My wife brought it home and I gave it a look during the spring snow. It is a great read so I asked a few friends and family and they also walked by it due to the name. Sorry to get political but those of us in rural Kawartha Lakes feel Lindsay holds us back.
Thank you, Bev. We have tried to address the printing issue you mentioned in our second edition.
- Mark Lowell Hi Mark. Thank you for taking the time to write. We’re glad you liked the magazine. For many years The Lindsay Post covered ‘Victoria County’ news. Similarly, the Peterborough Examiner covers Peterborough County and the Toronto Star covers Scarborough, Etobicoke, Mississauga, and more. Publication names are often based on the centre that has the largest population. Our goal is to continue to improve coverage of all our centres within the City as we go along. It’s our hope you will continue to be a reader, as we work to write about important social issues within all our communities.
Community Building I was delighted to read the first print edition of The Lindsay Advocate. Highlighting local businesses, people in our community, and the ingredients of a healthy local economy are all central in creating a community where everyone can thrive. The stories you cover, with a focus on community-building and hopeful alternatives (like basic income) are exactly the kind of things we need in this area. You have given us stories of hope and fed our vision of what a healthy community can look like. Thank you! - Sylvia Keesmaat
4 www.lindsayadvocate.ca
upfront Got stuff to get rid of?
Did you know there are various online ways to get rid of unwanted items in a way that will allow them to be re-used? Check out freecyle.org, trashnothing.com, or kijiji.com to make a listing and get rid of unwanted items. Great for spring cleaning and great for the environment!
Osprey Heritage Awards The Kawartha Lakes Municipal Heritage Committee is introducing a new Osprey Heritage Awards Program to recognize outstanding contributions to local heritage in our municipality. The awards will be offered in five categories: Architectural, Archeological, Community, Business Leader, Heritage Vision. Nominations can be submitted online for the awards and will be accepted until Friday July 6, 2018. An independent panel of judges will assess the entries and the awards will be presented at a City Council meeting in the fall of 2018. Get all the details here for nominating here: https://forms.kawarthalakes.ca/Economic-Development/Municipal-HeritageCommittee-Osprey-Heritage-Award
Lindsay Community Garden still has some space The Lindsay Community Garden had a few plots left (at press time) for new recruits who want to have their own little patch of land to work. Located on Fleming’s Frost Campus gardeners are given a space roughly 8 ft. by 16 ft. and share in a large communal herb garden. In addition they have use of wheelbarrows and can make use of the many gardening tools stored in a shed. A supply of water is guaranteed. The other benefit is contact with a congenial collection of other gardeners. The plot fee is $30 and gardeners must have their gardens planted by June 1 and are expected to keep their plots free of weeds and be responsible in the use of water. At the end of the gardening year, plots should be tidied. For anyone interested in taking a plot contact Jim Morasse at morasse7@ hotmail.com.
BENNS’ BELIEF
The Lindsay Advocate – since 1855 RODERICK BENNS, PUBLISHER Sometimes good ideas are merely a continuation of old ideas. What seems like a unique concept may actually be an echo of history, seized upon once again – perhaps at just the right moment. While reading Looking for Old Victoria County, edited by Rae Fleming and published just last year, I came upon a chapter called The People of the 1861 Great Fire in Lindsay, by Lois Magahay. Under a section about local journalism, it was there that I found an astonishing fact: Lindsay’s very first newspaper was called The Lindsay Advocate, first published in 1855 by Edward D. Hand. We certainly had no inkling of this when we created our online and print magazine. With further research in the reference section at the library, I studied a copy of the front page of the only surviving edition of the 163-year-old Lindsay Advocate. Among the various stories reported on at the time was yet another astonishing fact -- finding out what the original Advocate stood for: “As a local paper, our chief efforts will be directed towards furthering the interests of this Town and County and advocating whatever will, in any way, tend to their well-being and improvement…” Compare this to our modern-day, About Us section online:
The Lindsay Advocate is an online and print news magazine based in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada focused on the social and economic wellness of Kawartha Lakes.
For me – for all of us involved in this enterprise – this is more than a coincidence from history; it is a profound trust from the past that we will sincerely hold. There are many reasons for the Advocate to have been reborn now. As our nation’s GDP has climbed ever higher, the gap between those wages and their purchasing power has declined steadily. If you are old enough to remember when a full-time, minimum wage job allowed one to get by comfortably, and now realize that in this same scenario today it could be a description of poverty, then you will understand. It’s not that Canada hasn’t gotten richer. It certainly has. It’s just that the wealth hasn’t been distributed in an equitable way, thanks to distortions in our poorly designed tax code. Instead, the wealth has settled in the top percentiles, a failure of neoliberal policies. Those same policies also place the interests and health of corporations above people. With reform to our tax code, we could do much more for our society. The Advocate, its name revived from history’s pages, will continue to work for Kawartha Lakes’ “well-being and improvement” as we move forward.
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KAWARTHA LAKES WOMAN SPEARHEADS PROBIOTIC SOIL INNOVATION Saving our Environment
RODERICK BENNS One day, perhaps, this will be a well-known story. It will be a story of how a Kawartha Lakes entrepreneur, Kim Thompson, had a fitful night’s sleep. The legend will continue about how she used that late-night opportunity to pour herself into researching her business – horticulture – and after many more fitful nights’ sleep then finds her inspiration. It is the beginning of an insight that could overturn much of what we know about how things grow. It will be a great Canadian moment. The discovery from a few years ago may not seem that exciting on the surface, since it has to do with the power of simple fungi. Specifically, it is the power of mycorrhizae. These are ‘helpful fungi’ in layman’s terms, something that creates an incredibly mutual beneficial relationship between fungi and plant roots. Likely as many as 95 per cent of all the world’s plant species form mycorrhizal relationships with fungi. It’s a relationship that has existed for millions of years. According to Dr. David Malloch, author of Natural History of Fungi, it works when the fungus receives the products of photosynthesis from the plant, which is then freed from having to find its own sources of energy. “At the same time the fungus grows out into the soil and retrieves nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen, and passes these back to the plant. Numerous experiments have shown that plants without mycorrhizae cannot cope as well with low mineral levels as those that have mycorrhizae,” writes Malloch. The real moment of truth, Thompson knew, would be if someone could harness that power, to capture it for wide-scale use as a way to help things grow. If that could occur, it could prevent the wholesale use of harmful, synthetic fertilizers. This all-natural probiotic could, quite literally, change everything in her field.
Thompson then set out to make it happen. She partnered with leading Canadian scientist Dr. Leanne Philip, as well as BioSyneterra Solutions Inc., based in Quebec. A huge leap forward was made with their involvement. This included what she had wanted all along – the ability and innovation of being able to maintain a living product active for two years after packaging. This ground-breaking product and partnership is what allowed Miryal – now a registered trademark -- to be brought to market.
KIM THOMPSON AND DR. LEANNE PHILIP The uses for Miryal (pronounced Mye-ril) are innumerable, Thompson says, from gardeners, big and small landscape companies, farmers, plant and tree nursery owners, wetland experts, municipalities – and so many more.” “With Miryal, I feel so passionately that this is an amazing product for the environment. How incredible would it be if this was widely used instead of fertilizers?” she points out. That’s why Thompson is keeping the price of Miryal low – cheaper than her lowest price synthetic fertilizer at her garden centre. Thompson, along with her husband, Chris Cookman, and son Jacob Cookman,
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own a horticultural business located in Durham Region. They live in Kawartha Lakes and Thompson grew up in the Lindsay area. The Canadian scientist who Thompson partnered with -- Dr. Leanne Philip – says the creation of Miryal was “a dramatic leap forward.”
CHRIS COOKMAN, KIM THOMPSON & JACOB COOKMAN It was Philip’s Canadian and international connections through academia and Thompson’s connections from the private sector that helped move things along, including their connection to BioSyneterra Solutions Inc. in Quebec, which manufactures Miryal. BioSyneterra had the experience in bringing plant probiotics to market, something the group, as whole, was able to do in just 15 months. “It now opens the door to a wide array of uses, Philip says, who likens plant root systems treated with Miryal to “major transportation and social media networks working synergistically below ground.”
“It helps the roots grow tiny filaments that occupy great expanses of soil volumes and trap mineral nutrients and water which are essential to support plant growth,” says Thompson. It’s when the mycorrhizae of Miryal attaches and becomes part of the cells of the roots of the plants and extensions of the root system itself that the magic happens. This allows the roots to reach the smaller pockets of nutrients in the soil. Thompson says the release of certain probiotics by Miryal provides plants with boosted resilience to plant pathogens. “Imagine reducing the cost and use of watering, fertilizing, and pesticide use, as your plants increase their ability to protect themselves naturally.” Thompson sells single pails of Miryal for small scale use for gardeners, while also being able to scale up dramatically for the needs of municipalities, conservation areas, or home builders.
“Miryal could mean sustainable increased food production,” says Thompson, or wetland regeneration and remediation.
“The commercial development of the product Miryal could mean sustainable increased food production, wetland regeneration, and the restoration and regeneration of gravel pits and landfill sites,”
says Philip. Wineries, parks, conservation areas, multipurpose greenspaces and climate change reduction strategies are other uses for Miryal. Today, so many plants, trees, shrubs, grasses, flowers, and vegetables face stresses in their environment, such as infertile soils, diseases, extreme temperatures, drought, and man-made chemicals. Miryal, as a live probiotic, helps plants species adapt to their harsh conditions.
10 William St. S., Lindsay • (705) 324-6222 • www.staplesswain.com
Dedicated to Excellence Since 1959
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“It could also be of great help to urban planners and developers who don’t always know how to match the right trees and shrubs to depleted soils that have been devastated by construction or extreme climate trends,” Thompson adds.
For the Earth and Our Future Thompson will be the first to admit she didn’t do this on her own. Without the contributions of Dr. Leanne Philip and BioSyneterra Solutions Inc. in Quebec, it wouldn’t have gotten off the ground (to harness what’s in the ground.) On the other hand, without Thompson’s burning curiosity and passion for her business, and her drive for implementation, Miryal might never have been more than a fleeting idea. With clearance from regulators to sell across Canada, Miryal has the capacity to go beyond changing Kawartha Lakes where she calls home, and Durham Region where she works. It’s an innovation that one day, just maybe, could change the world. To learn more about Miryal visit miryal.com or contact them at miryaldiscovery@gmail.com.To reach Dr. Leanne Philip, email her at soiladvocates@rogers.ca or visit soiladvocates.ca.
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10,000 OF OUR NEIGHBOURS
DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT
TREVOR HUTCHINSON Some of our neighbours are hungry. Others are constantly deciding between utilities or food. That this should happen in Canada -- a major food producer for the world -- should be reprehensible to us. Food insecurity is usually defined as “the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.” And we are – officially, at least – collectively against it.We have agreed at the United Nations that food is a basic human right and that right protects every human from hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity. “All residents [should] have knowledge of and access to nutritious, affordable and safe food” is not taken from some crunchy manifesto but rather from the Food Charter on the City of Kawartha Lakes website. That everyone deserves access to healthy food should be a nobrainer. In the City of Kawartha Lakes, we are not plagued by physical access to food barriers like Canadians are in northern and isolated communities. Aisha Malik is a registered dietitian from the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRDHU) and chair of the food security working group of the Kawartha Lakes Food Coalition. She defines food insecurity as “not having enough food or worrying there’s not enough to eat because of financial constraints.” Malik reports that 13.5 per cent of residents of the HKPRDU catchment area --
which includes all of the City of Kawartha Lakes – are food insecure which is higher that the province-wide rate of 11.9 per cent. Put more bluntly: almost 10,000 of our neighbours don’t have enough food to eat, have to make difficult decisions between AISHA MALIK food and other bills, or worry about how the next load of groceries is going to be paid for. Many who work at improving food security use a continuum developed by BC-based dietician and food advocate Laura Kalina. She advocates examining and improving the food security system at three levels: short term relief, capacity-building strategies and system redesign strategies. Like many places in the country, we are pretty good at short term/emergency food distribution in Kawartha Lakes. The Kawartha Lakes Food Source, a food distribution centre, supplies nine member food banks, 30 agencies and 21 local schools. KLFS recently marked its 15th anniversary in our City. While it’s important to recognize the tens of thousands of volunteer hours and countless donations of money by individuals and local businesses, this milestone is nothing to celebrate.
10 www.lindsayadvocate.ca
HEIRLOOM TOMATO SEEDLING SALE May 19 - June 2, 2018
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The numbers are staggering: 60 bags and 1,200 cartons of milk a week, $600 a week in fresh fruit and 40 dozen eggs a week. In 2017 KLFS fed 5,500 people, collected or purchased over 199,000 pounds of food using the energies of 150 volunteers who contributed 3,695 hours of their time. All of this is done with no operating funding of any kind from any level of government. Those accomplishments are part of the problem however. Food
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“...met high we think our we are dealing with wealth distribution. standards...earned We have allowed governments to rounds of applause...” download addressing one our most basic human rights to charity. As Peterborough Rotary Club best-selling author and President of Community Food Centres of Canada, Nick Saul, told The Lindsay Advocate, “food banks should never think they are the solution; food won’t solve this problem.” We have entrenched a certain lack of dignity in how we feed our neighbours. Because of the charity model, we proceed on the basis that ‘any food is good food.’ We accept food donations from large corporations that get tax write-offs and avoid tipping fees. While every effort is made to ensure the food is edible by the well-intentioned volunteers and staff along this food chain, at the end of the day it’s about handing a box of food that was chosen by someone else and that may or may not be appropriate for the family receiving it – all done in
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a way that as fundamentally different from how most of us are lucky enough to get food. KLFS and its member agencies surveyed food bank users this year and volunteers are taking sensitivity courses which are commendable efforts, but ultimately we have a process that further separates and divides us. As Andrea Curtis, author of Eat this! How Fast Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Junk (and how to fight back) told the Advocate, “when we prioritize ensuring everyone has access to good food, so much can begin to change. Instead of dividing us, food has the power to bring us together.” There are excellent local efforts to improve the quality of food and increase the capacity of our food system: we have Plant a Row Grow a Row (which gets neighbours to grow fresh food for neighbours), community and open gardens, community kitchens and there are food skill and gardening education programs. Recently KLFA purchased four ‘tower gardens’ which according to KLFS General Manager and KLFC Chair Heather Kirby, “will provide fresh produce all year long. This is an exciting new way that we are able to help those who do not have enough.” All of this work done by so KLFS GENERAL MANAGER AND many in our community doesn’t KLFC CHAIR HEATHER KIRBY however address the basic issue: food insecurity can only be changed by addressing income insecurity. There are some who bring out the laziness trope here thinking people should just work more and harder or just get a job. Besides being mean-spirited, it is factually wrong. Ontario statistics reveal that 57.5 per cent of food insecure families have a family member with a job. Only 20.6 per cent of KLFS clients receive social assistance, the rest are on disability, are unemployed or working. That is why the KLFC Food Security Working Group will work on a poverty reduction awareness campaign for both the upcoming provincial and municipal elections. “The focus will be on income based solutions -- continue the Basic Income Guarantee, increase social assistance rates, and increase affordable housing,” says Kirby. “The idea is to start the hard work of actually changing the system that leads to food insecurity.” Given that 40 per cent of food bank clients are actually children, perhaps we can roll up our sleeves and decide to change a system that leaves too many of our neighbours struggling with the most basic of needs: healthy, nutritious food.
Award-winning journalist Roderick Benns spent more than two years with one key purpose – using advocacy journalism to get leaders across Canada talking about the potential of a basic income guarantee. Available on Amazon.ca or at Kent Bookstore in Lindsay.
ALL YOUR FAVOURITES ALL DAY LONG
Boots of Hazard takes on ‘21 Charities’ in 21 days Musicians on a mission. Two Canadian musicians have put together an ambitious and creative plan to help local charities. Brooks Robinson and Dennis Carmichael have gotten many requests for charity gigs and they liked the idea of ‘paying it forward.’ The two performers will help raise money for 21 charities over a span of 21 days, in 21 different venues. This amazing networking and musical marathon will conclude on the evening of their 21st performance with a charity gala at The Academy Theatre. Robinson and Carmichael and their full band, Boots of Hazard, will see their own personal fundraising efforts donated to the Academy Theatre in Lindsay. Each of the 21 Charities involved will host an approximately 60-90 minute performance to celebrate their involvement in the 21 Charities campaign. Robinson and Carmichael will MC and perform at each event as they work towards their goal of 21shows in a row. A spokesperson from each charity will make a brief statement at the final Gala event.There will be a silent auction where one item from each charity will be displayed in the theatre on the night of the Gala. Each charity will keep the funds raised for their own item. A 50/50 draw will also be held at the gala that will see the monies split between the Academy Theatre and the winning ticket holder. Robinson and Carmichael with their band Boots of Hazard along with some very special guests will provide entertainment for the evening of the gala at the Academy Theatre. Robinson says they “want to challenge other musicians and entertainers who may be interested to do the same thing.” “We would be more than willing to help anyone who might want to do this.” For information visit http://www.21charities.com
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Poverty is a serious problem for our community and the province. Poverty affects an individual’s physical and mental health as well as their dignity and quality of life. Everyone needs enough money to meet their basic needs of housing, food, employment, education, transportation, childcare, and other necessities. In the City of Kawartha Lakes, 13.1 per cent of all households are considered low-income, of which, 16.5 per cent are children age 0-17. In Haliburton County, 17.2 per cent of all households are considered low-income, of which, 22.9 per cent are children age 0-17. The lack of affordable housing has resulted in 1,415 households waiting 3-5 years for subsidized housing in the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County. The waitlist for subsidized housing has tripled since 2013. In the City of Kawartha Lakes, 51.6 per cent of renters are paying 30 per cent or more of their income on housing. Food insecurity is also a serious problem in our community. More than one in 10 households are food insecure in the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district. After paying for basic needs such as rent and utilities most people with low incomes do not have enough money left over to buy adequate healthy food. The shortage of affordable licensed childcare is another concern. We have no licensed childcare for infants age 0-18 months in Haliburton County and a limited number of spaces in the City of Kawartha Lakes. The cost of childcare is also a barrier. This makes it difficult for parents to be employed or pursue education. Every level of government has a role to play in poverty reduction so that everyone has their basic needs met with dignity and respect. Food banks, charity programs and other social programs provide some short-term relief but are not designed to address the root causes of poverty. Income is one solution to poverty. The three-year Ontario Basic Income Pilot study is currently in progress in Lindsay to test if a basic income is an effective and sustainable way to reduce poverty. The results of the basic income pilot study could reveal significant improvements in the lives of low income Ontarians. The Ontario Basic Income Pilot is a start, but more needs to be done. Other income-based solutions, such as minimum wage rates that are reflective of a living wage and increases to social assistance rates. There also needs to be job creation, improvements to employment standards, and more affordable housing, licensed childcare and public transportation. By implementing a variety of poverty reduction strategies in Ontario, everyone in our community will benefit. Questions specific to these topics will be sent to all candidates requesting that they send back their responses so they can be published prior to the election. -- Submitted by the Access to Permanent Housing Committee, the Kawartha Lakes Food Coalition and the Haliburton County FoodNet
KAWARTHA LAKES PLANT A ROW GROW A ROW 2018
Opening very,very soon! • 7 BARREL BREW HOUSE WITH 7 HANDCRAFTED BEERS • MADE IN HOUSE BY CLASSICALLY TRAINED BREW MASTERS • AUTHENTIC ITALIAN WOOD FIRED PIZZA OVEN AND FRESH MADE PASTAS The Plant a Row Grow a Row program is a national program that encourages gardeners and farmers to plant an extra row of produce and donate some of their harvest to neighbours in need. This will be the sixth year of this program running locally and Kawartha Lakes Food Source (KLFS) hopes to increase the awareness of the program in order to increase the amount of fresh produce that is donated to Food Source. Kawartha Lakes Food Source collects, sorts and distributes food to the nine local food banks and food programs in the City of Kawartha Lakes to help feed those who do not have enough to eat. KLFS also provides nutritious food to 20 school breakfast and snack programs each week. About 13.5 per cent of households in Kawartha Lakes are food insecure, meaning they do not have enough to eat or worry that there is not enough to eat.This is higher than the Ontario average of 11 per cent of households. KLFS asks that people donate any extra fresh produce such as carrots, green and yellow beans, onions, garlic, corn, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, onion, peppers, apples, cabbage, squash, beets, young zucchini, spinach, kale and turnips to Kawartha Lakes Food Source or local food banks to support this program. Donations with a market value over $20 are eligible for a charitable donation receipt. Kawartha Lakes Food Source can accept meat donations including chicken, pork and beef. It can also help harvest donations once they are ready. Call 705-3240707 in advance for more information. Farmers are eligible for additional tax credits. For additional questions, please contact City of Kawartha Lakes Plant A Row Grow A Row coordinator Liza Hancock at 705-928-5149.
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The latest buzz Photo by Susan Blayney
On World Bee Day in Kawartha Lakes SUZANNE ALDEN May 20 is World Bee Day. In 2017 the United Nations General Assembly (co-sponsored by 115 UN Members, including Canada) made a resolution declaring May 20 as World Bee Day annually. Bees are crucial for crops. Without them, we could lose a variety of foods including potatoes, pepper, coffee, apples, almonds, and tomatoes. World Bee Day recognizes the importance of these tiny insects and the need to protect them. One out of three bites of food we eat is courtesy of insect pollination. On a more local level, pollinators are essential to Ontario agriculture, contributing $992 million annually. City of Kawartha Lakes is certainly in step with the growing movement to protect the bees. The City was designated a Bee City in July, 2017, led by Susan Blayney with full support from the City. Langton Public School has also just become Canada’s 14th Bee School through the dedication of their ‘Green Team.’ There are many projects throughout Kawartha Lakes where people are helping pollinators: Bobcaygeon Wilderness Park, Frost Campus Butterfly Garden,
Rosedale Pollinator Patch and the Community Gardens in Lindsay, just to name a few. What can you do to be a part of this growing social movement? Plant a variety of nectar-bearing plants and native species that bloom from spring to autumn to provide food. Try to eliminate or reduce the use of pesticides including pollinator-attractive plants treated with systemic pesticides. Check out local organic and/or native growers and nurseries. Provide water. Mow your lawn less often and when bees are not present (such as early morning or early evening). Seek out your local Bee Keepers and buy their bee products. Educate your friends and family about the importance of bees and participate in pollinator events. Two excellent resources for more detailed ways to help are www.kawarthalakes.ca/beecity and www.ontario.ca/pollinators . In honour of this first ever World Bee Day, the Bee City Kawartha Lakes Pollinator Pathways Map Project will be operational on May 20. This project will map what residents are doing to create pollinator habitat. Register your patch/garden on the Bee City Kawartha Lakes web page. Personal information will remain private but you will be asked various questions about your patch. Participants will receive a weather resistant sign indicating that they’re part of the Bee City Community. Anyone can participate: residents, schools, churches, businesses, and farms. Together we can build a corridor across Kawartha Lakes which is incredibly important for pollinator conservation. Help build the Pollinator Pathways and get on the map. You should ‘bee’ keeping an eye out for further details on Bee City Kawartha Lakes’ National Pollinator Week Celebration on Settler’s Day at Settler’s Village, June 10. Happy World Bee Day!
* At press time it was announced that the European Union plans to implement a total ban (outdoors) on the use of world’s most widely used systemic insecticides, Neonicontinoids in Europe within six months.
SHOW THE LOVE
What do you love about Kawartha Lakes?
Having relocated back to Lindsay from Toronto/Ottawa after 20 years, I can say that I love living in a smaller, stress-free community once again. It’s also nice to be back to my hometown and closer to my family and old friends that I grew up with. - Michael LaRiviere, Designer/Developer Lindsay
Lindsay is one of the nicest small towns in Ontario. It is a perfect place to raise a family. Lindsay has a fantastic historic downtown, with a large selection of unique specialty stores to shop in with free parking. - Amy Nisbett Nisbett’s Clothiers, Lindsay
I grew up in Kawartha Lakes and have lived here most of my life. I have been involved in many aspects of community life through the raising of my children and my business and as a result have met so many amazing people! I feel so blessed to work and play in such a wonderful community. I love the small town feel where I meet friends everywhere I go. It gives me a sense of belonging. - Liz Grimes, Owner Cathy Allan Ladies Wear Lindsay
I’ve been a resident in this area now for the better part of 25 years, and I love the sense of community you feel no matter where you live in Kawartha Lakes. There are so many selfless and creative people in this community who work hard to make it a wonderful place to live and raise a family. We have fantastic organizations and we also have great families starting up community events that make Kawartha Lakes a better place to live.There is an exciting sense of community here and I really think that it is a place that we can all be proud of. - Shannon Kuypers, Teacher Bethany
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RUSSIAN FARMERS TO LEARN ABOUT FARMING LIFE IN KAWARTHA LAKES ON THE WAY FOR MILK TOUR
RODERICK BENNS Sometime in the middle of July, about 50 to 100 Russian farmers will be driving around Kawartha Lakes. They won’t be driving aimlessly – they’re actually on a tight timeline and it’s a fully guided tour. They’ve only got six days and a massive area of Ontario and Quebec to explore – including two days here in Kawartha Lakes. Most of the attendees on this journey are farmers or processors from Russia, along with some government officials, regional authorities, companies offering solutions for milk producers and processors, and federal and regional media. It has all been organized by the Russian DairyNews. Russia has undergone a sea-change in their agricultural industry. The former Soviet Union enforced the collectivization of its agricultural sector during the time of leader Joseph Stalin. Later, the country struggled to transform from a command economy to a marketoriented system, following the splintering of Soviet Union boundaries in 1991. ‘Perestroika’ (restructuring) was a shock wave of change for rural Russia. Suddenly the massive collective and state farms had a transition to make to a marketoriented economy, which began with the privatization of land and farm assets. Now, according to Kelly Maloney, agriculture development officer for Economic Development at the City of Kawartha Lakes, they’re all “very, very big.”
“They’re so big they are corporations there, with farm managers,” says Maloney. In fact, the average size of former state-run farms in Russia, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, is 12,500 acres. The average size in Kawartha Lakes (factoring all types of farms) is 249 acres. But they haven’t developed all the things we take for granted here – all the things the Province does here as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. “That education piece, the know-how, isn’t really being delivered for them. The media seems to be doing some of it, such as events like this,” says Maloney. The event is essentially a motor rally, something they do in Russia each year. Last year the group was in Siberia with three team members from Ontario. But this is their first time they are going to do a similar tour outside of their own country. The event members are looking forward to renting individual cars and driving across this swath of Canada to get a sense of the land, its people, and how things are organized here. It will be their first time out of Russia. The trip begins in Montreal, where they will get their rental cars and decorate them across the hoods.The name for the tour is Way for Milk. There will be Ontario participants, too, to help guide the week-long tour July 1521, with the Kawartha Lakes portion occurring July 17-18.
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After seeing some western Quebec farms, the farmers will drive through eastern Ontario, with stops along the way, and then five coordinated stops in Kawartha Lakes over two days -- Grasshill Farm, Bobcaygeon; Kawartha Dairy, Bobcaygeon; Mariposa Dairy, Lindsay; Kawartha Holsteins, Lindsay; and Green Tractors, near Omemee. The City of Kawartha Lakes will be there as part of an organizing committee. Maloney says the City will definitely be ensuring there are farmers from Kawartha Lakes area on the tour. The farmers are most looking forward to the evenings when there is more free time to simply connect and learn. “In the evening, when they have time to chat, it’s our farmers they want to talk to. It’s so different than their corporate-owned farms that they’re hungry for the information – just to understand our way of life.” Maloney says it’s the family nature of ownership that interests them. “They want to know about our Sundays, and learn how many of us go to church on that day, since they’re starting to get back into church life.” (Under the old communist traditions, ‘state atheism,’ as it is now referred, was a government-sponsored movement toward atheism to break the power of religious institutions.) Maloney says the Russian visitors want to see both large and small-scale farms. In Russia, there are thousands of cows on a single, average farm.
Export Development Initiative
Kawartha Lakes has had an export development initiative since 2010-11. According to the City, Leading Livestock Genetics (LLG) Breeders Alliance is a livestock export initiative supported by the City of Kawartha Lakes and the Region of Durham. The Alliance was formed in
2013 with the intent of improving profitability, herd health, marketing experience, and expanding global market opportunities through effective marketing, education, research and promotion and promotes the export of superior livestock genetics from this area. When the BSE outbreak (commonly known as Mad Cow Disease) occurred elsewhere in Canada it had an effect on farming export markets in general, says Maloney. That’s why LLG is trying to re-establish new export markets – like the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, East Asia, including Russia -- which has taken many years. “Within that time frame of the outbreak, export markets matured and other nations had moved in to fill the void,” says Maloney. Once that occurred, Canada needed to identify new markets. The LLG can offer Canadian and North American manufacturers the equipment they would need, and an education component. The main goal of LLG is developing export sales for local businesses. She says the east central Ontario region, for instance, is really well known for its dairy breeding stock. While farmers would get the majority of their income from selling their milk, the ‘gravy’ money they earn comes from breeding stock sales.
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Fast facts on farms in Kawartha Lakes • Home to about 1,265 farms. Kawartha Lakes farms are still primarily family businesses. • 89.9 per cent are either sole proprietorships or partnerships, and only 1.3 per cent of farms are non-family corporations. • Most notably, the number of family corporations has almost doubled with 8.7 per cent of businesses now held by family Vera Mozgovaya, editor in chief, Russia DairyNews, on a 2017 study tour of Ontario dairy farms. Photo by Suzanne Atkinson.
“If they need to build a new barn or have some other larger project then that extra income really comes from breeding stock sales. It really helps change this from an industry that survives to one that thrives,” says Maloney. Maloney says when farmers sell a product the multiplier effect is 2.2. So for every dollar sold there’s a spin-off of other economic benefits to the region that’s more than double the initial outlay.
“When farms do well, it helps our whole community do well.”
In the meantime, in mid-July, a Russian delegation of farmers will learn about what success looks like for small farms (and big processors, like Mariposa Dairy) right here in Kawartha Lakes. “Although there are magnitudes of scale differences with the large, corporate, non-family-based dairy farms in Russia, there are definitely benefits they seek from Ontario in herd management, feeding equipment, genetic development and data management,” Maloney says. That’s something our experts will be hoping to provide as the Way for Milk makes its way through Kawartha Lakes.
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NOURISH AND DEVELOP HELPS THOSE WITHIN A 50KM RADIUS OF CANNINGTON RODERICK BENNS The Nourish and Develop Foundation is a charitable non-profit organization that promotes local food security and self-reliance. They do this through collaborative programs and partnerships that deliver “lasting solutions and life-long learning,” according to Ashleigh Harrison, creative media coordinator at the foundation. For the last four years Nourish and Develop’s work has been recognized with the GFO (Good Food Organization) branding in Canada. More than just a food bank, says Harrison, “our food pantry provides fresh and local food whenever possible in our emergency food supply to individuals and families in need who live in our service area.” Located in the town of Cannington, anyone within a 50 km radius of its downtown (including those from parts of Kawartha Lakes) is available to participate in the gleaning program. Registered farmers are able to receive tax receipt for their eligible donation. The food pantry itself serves individuals and families that live within Brock Township. “This year Nourish and Develop plans to start our new gleaning program to support our food pantry,” says Harrison. “With the generosity of local farmers, community gardeners, volunteers, and donors we can collect nutritious local produce from local growers to use in our food pantry and other community kitchen programs.” This program will allow the foundation to continue providing individuals and families access to fresh local produce. Registered farmers will benefit from the gleaning program by receiving a tax receipt for eligible donations to the food pantry. Growers who are interested in supporting the gleaning program or those who would like to learn more about the foundation can do so by visiting tndf.ca or call the office at 705-432-2444.
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How standup comedy succeeds in Ag country:
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GRAVY I don’t know why my road to professional standup comedy ultimately became a rural route. I just seemed to have better luck with farm-friendly audiences - such as fair organizers, pork producers, potato growers, seed sellers and the like -- than with those from The City. (Yes, capital letters. That’s how we here in Kawartha Lakes refer to Toronto). I do, however, know that success at any ag-related audience comes down to this: the gravy. This conclusion comes from more than 25 years of gracing, literally, hundreds of stages from Dunsford, Ontario to Duncan, B.C. Actually, scratch that. Good luck finding a stage in these venues. Even the portable kinds are too heavy to haul up from the Zamboni room. And Kenny, the arena guy, has a wonky back. Screwed it up when he drove truck for the township, eh. “Ya could stand on a couple tables,” he’ll offer. “But we’ll have to duct tape ‘em together -- for insurance purposes.” Duct tape, I’ve learned, is a verb in Rural Canada. Thankfully, I’m six-foot-five. If there’s no stage -(often) -- people in the back row at the gig can still see my mug above a sea of sensibly dressed women and men in ironed plaid shirts. Lighting isn’t an issue, either. I’ve bombed under the fancy spots of the Moose Lodge and earned ovations in halls so dimly lit, a flashlight on the end of a pitchfork would have been a blessing. No, a strong performance at these gigs comes down to the gravy. You see, I’m almost always a bit player at these events -- a cushion, of sorts, between the meeting and the meal. A buffet buffer, if you will. Something to do before the night’s emcee reads the minutes, hands out the door prizes, and a fresh set of presidents and directors is elected. The main event, really, is the roast beef and/or pork, corn, peas, diced carrots and mashed potatoes. And gravy. Ah yes, the gravy. If it’s served in a tiny gravy boat, I’m in big trouble. But if the gravy is in a pitcher -- a wonderfully enormous pitcher -- those cosmic/comic stars will align. Yes, that Jug o’ Gravy means even the 88-year-old great-grandmother will laugh so hard, she’ll
DENIS GRIGNON
spill her gravy – once she adjusts her hearing aid, that is. But, alas, then there’s the crock pot full of gravy. The caveat of comedy. The swing vote of slapstick. That symbol so gelatinously messy that only the tips of your fingers can grasp the dry part of its clunky ladle. There’s a metaphor there, I’m certain; because a crock pot can be a harbinger of comedy doom, or a beacon of standup triumph. Three parts beef stock, one part flour; seven parts fickleness. It was, in fact, a crock pot that ruined my act at that men’s farm dinner near Stratford, Ontario, about 10 years ago. “If I had to put down an animal,” I started, confident that I’d struck a common chord with my brethren, “I’d get my sisterin-law to bore the beast to death with her vacation slides.” Brief silence, then a retort from the guy with arms crossed and the John Deere cap: “You’re sure doing a good job of boring us.” Sigh. Damn that crock pot, I say. Damn that gravy. It’s certainly not that these folks are unworldly rubes. But in terms of comedic sensibility, well, let’s just say the two are worlds apart. For one, my rural audiences are infinitely more polite and down-to-earth than the urban ones I used to appeal to. A few years ago, my wife and I bought a small farm near Dunsford on Cheese Factory Road. (Geesh, can you get more rural than that?) Shortly after the move, I performed a charity fundraiser at the local women’s institute. It was, I admit, the most nervous I’d been leading up to a performance in years -- wary of bombing in front of neighbours who loan me log splitters and clear my driveway of snow. I raise chickens and inherited the father-in-law’s tractor, which provides relatable fodder for my act. But, truthfully, I still sometimes feel like the outsider at these country events. “Our guest speaker last year was some guy from the Ag ministry and he was horrible,” the Person-in-Charge will tell me over the phone a few days before a show. “Just be funnier than him, okay?” It all depends, I’ll tell her. “How are you serving the gravy?”
Denis Grignon is a professional standup comic and weekend host at BOB-FM in Lindsay. Reach him via: cleancomedian.ca
An Inconvenient Column
LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATORS WALK THE TALK FRIENDS & NEIGHBOURS WITH JAMIE MORRIS
When I meet with Deborah Pearson and Ginny Colling it’s over herbal tea and Mickael’s day-olds, and their only pressing deadline is a sleep yoga workshop, starting in an hour-and-a-half. They both have had busy professional careers -- for Deborah 30 years of elementary school teaching (mostly with the Trillium Board, but also in Canada’s subarctic and in Europe), and for Ginny 29 years teaching Journalism and Public Relations at Durham College. Now, much of their time goes to volunteering within the community. Ginny is a team leader helping a Syrian family settle in; Deborah is a long-time volunteer for Amnesty International, and volunteers at the Olde Gaol Museum in its education program for schools. The lion’s share of the volunteer time is environmental work. Both sit on the City of Kawartha Lakes Environmental Advisory Committee and Healthy Environment Plan Working Group; Ginny is a member of David Suzuki’s ‘Blue Dot Movement.’ Above all though, right now their days are shaped by a commitment to address what is arguably the greatest threat facing the planet: climate change. The Training Both Ginny and Deborah have completed former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership training program. In March 2017 Ginny joined 972 people from 32 countries for the workshops in Denver; in October that year Deb travelled to Pittsburgh to join 1,400 from 40 countries. Over the three days they participated in lectures, seminars and panel discussions given by climate scientists from the U.S., Australia and Britain, as well as health professionals and politicians. Gore himself was omnipresent. Many of the facts they learned -- and facts uncovered as Deborah and Ginny scan the news and
rigorously track climate science and environmental agency websites -- are startling. A few of these (drawn from NASA and National Geographic): • 17 of the 18 hottest years on record have occurred since 2001 • world-wide, the number of climate-related disasters has more than tripled since 1980 But there are hopeful facts to build on as well: • 97 per cent of scientists agree that human activity is likely the cause • renewables, the fastest growing energy source, are projected to triple by 2040. They both came back energized and motivated. They had officially become part of a grassroots movement that required them, as workshop participants, to think globally and return home to act locally. Deb talks of another motivation, too: “After the training, when I returned to Ontario to learn that our Provincial government had been taking climate change very seriously and had already developed a Climate Change Action Plan I felt even more inspired to get the message out.”
DEBORAH PEARSON AND GINNY COLLING
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Taking Action Since completing the training they’ve been taking every opportunity to share information. There was a Q & A after a showing of An Inconvenient Sequel at the Roxy Theatre in Uxbridge, presentations to the Durham Naturalists and North Durham Nature Groups, and to Rotary and Optimist Clubs.The theme for World Day of Prayer was ‘Caring for the Environment,’ so they carried the message to the churches.They’ve even taken it to an animal rights group (climate change is affecting the range and even survival of many animals). Clearly, they can marshal their facts and talk the talk. But have they applied what they’ve learned to their own lives? Are they walking the walk? Absolutely. For their presentations, they’ve developed a hand-out entitled “A Dozen Ways to Fight Climate Change.” It could double as a checklist of steps both Ginny and Deb have taken. For examples: #2. Be energy efficient. In winter set thermostats to 20 degrees (17 at night) and avoid energy-consuming clothes dryers, using clotheslines in the summer. All of their bulbs are LED (and turned off when not needed). #8. Green your commute. In addition to walking and riding her bike around town on a regular basis to minimize driving, next month, Deb will be taking delivery of a fully-electric vehicle -- the only GM Bolt allotted for 2018 for an area stretching from Bancroft to Pickering. Ginny, who drives an energy-efficient FIT hopes to follow suit in a couple of years. #10. Fly less.This is a hard one for Deb (whose daughter and granddaughter are in San Francisco) but when she flies she buys carbon offset credits through the United Nations. Both, by the way, go further than offsets for flights. It’s an uncomfortable fact that the average Canadian produces 29 tonnes of emissions just with daily living for a year. Ginny and Deb have each calculated their annual climate footprint and purchased credits that support worthwhile environmental projects around the world. The money Ginny pays, for example, goes to a project that puts low-carbon cook stoves in the hands of families in developing countries.
Next Steps (for them, for you, for me) For Deb and Ginny staying abreast of developments is part of the commitment. Just a few weeks ago they attended a student-organized session at Ryerson. (Al Gore, who waived his fee to attend, made a public statement that Ontario is a model for the rest of the world in its Climate Adaptation Plan). And since our discussion, they’ve been exploring a valuable new compendium and tool, The Climate Atlas of Canada. The next step for you? If you’d like to learn more, plan to attend one of the three Climate Change presentations. You could also watch Gore’s 2017 film An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power or National Geographic’s Before the Flood, both now screening on Netflix Canada, or read books such as David Suzuki’s Just Cool It or Earth by Bill McKibben. For a handy guide to steps you can take to help the climate change cause, print off the “Dozen Ways” handout and stick it on your Energy-star-compliant fridge. For me? Some more herbal tea. Frankly, writing about two ardent environmentalists is exhausting. The day after our conversation, shamed by the example set by Deb and Ginny, I researched the carbon footprint of a coming flight to Helsinki using the United Nation Climate Footprint Calculator. I was just choosing from among the carbon offset projects to fund, when an email from Deborah arrived with no fewer than six links to additional reliable web resources; and the “Dozen Ways to Fight Climate Change” handout. Kermit said it best: “It’s not easy being green.” He had no choice, of course, but -- in a different kind of way -- neither do we, since 15,000 scientists have issued a second warning of dire consequences should we not address climate change.
We’ll all find our own motivation, but let’s give the last word to Deb: “I think of the world I want for my daughter, and for my granddaughter.”
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KAWARTHA LAKES HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT PLAN
Since 2016, the City of Kawartha Lakes has been working with Partners for Climate Protection, an arm of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities that assists municipalities across Canada to design and implement climate change action plans. The City has been successful in securing $175,000 in funding from the Green Municipal Fund for the project and has assembled a working group of stakeholders from the community to work on the plan. By joining Partners for Climate Protection, the City of Kawartha Lakes is committing to the completion of five milestones: 1. Create an inventory of community greenhouse gas emissions and forecast 2. Set an emissions reduction target 3. Develop the Kawartha Lakes Healthy Environment Plan 4. Implement the Kawartha Lakes Healthy Environment Plan 5. Monitor progress and report results The Five Milestone Framework through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is known and used nationwide. Membership in the program opens doors to extensive knowledge and collaboration with successful communities across Canada according to the city. “Working through the five milestone framework will help us update our Integrated Community Sustainability Plan in collaboration with the City of Kawartha Lakes Environmental Advisory Committee and other community stakeholders. The project will engage the entire community over multiple years,” explains Denise Williams, strategy and performance specialist for the City of Kawartha Lakes. The objective of this engagement program is to generate ideas on what can be done locally to address climate change through both mitigation and adaptation measures. Engagement will begin with a conversation about climate change in Kawartha Lakes and will use the baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory to stimulate discussion. Discussions with stakeholders and the community will work to set realistic and achievable goals for GHG reduction targets.These discussions will also outline actions and strategies to meet those goals. Input collected through engagement will feed into the database for potential action for consideration in the development of the draft Healthy Environment Plan. If you are at a community event and see a pop up stand for the KLHEP, be sure to stop and share your views. A community plan needs everyone’s input.
For more information, contact the project coordinator, Denise Williams at 705 324 9411 ext. 1395 or by email at dwilliams@kawarthalakes.ca. 26 www.lindsayadvocate.ca
JOIN THE FENELON FALLS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
WOOL DAY IN FENELON FALLS
Meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month at 7 pm at the Senior Citizens’ Club at 58 Murray Street in Fenelon Falls. The Society features fun and informative meetings featuring guest speakers, garden tours, and excursions. Coming up:
Kawartha Yarn and Fibre Festival has joined forces with the team at Maryboro Lodge, Kawartha Heritage and Ontario Sheep Farmers to create Wool Day in Fenelon Falls. The festival in Fenelon Falls is a single day event showcasing 70 local and independent vendors, with a minimarket for small businesses designed specifically to help small companies with great products put a spotlight on their unique products, attracting passionate fibre artists of all types. Knitters, crocheters, spinners and felters will all find something perfect for them.
May 26: Plant Sale 9 am to Noon Salvation Army Citadel 42 Bond Street West May 28: Ecological Landscape Design with Helen Batten
RAIN BARREL SALE AT KAWARTHA CONSERVATION
10 am to 5pm Saturday, June 9, 2018 Fenelon Falls Secondary School 66 Lindsay St. Fenelon Falls
Barrels are only $55 – up to 75 per cent off retail prices. To order barrels and accessories go to: rainbarrel.ca/ kawarthaconservation/ Pick-up is Saturday, Aug. 25 from 11 am to 2 pm at 277 Kenrei Road, Lindsay (Kawartha Conservation Field Centre.) Call Kawartha Conservation at 705328-2271 or email stewardship@ kawarthaconservation.com for more information.
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The Crown In Kawartha Lakes: Lindsay’s Regal and Vice-Regal Heritage
The forthcoming marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has captured the interest and imagination of Canadians and other peoples in the realms over which His Royal Highness’ grandmother reigns as Queen. Once again, the magic, mystique, and mystery of monarchy is hitting the newsstands - to the bemusement of some, and to the delight of many. Few residents in the contemporary City of Kawartha Lakes are likely aware of the place their community has in the ongoing story of Canada’s regal and vice-regal tradition. Like so many places across Canada, many familiar landmarks - Adelaide Street, Alexandra Public School, and Victoria Park, for instance - derive their names from members of the royal family. Our town has played host on several occasions to Governors General of Canada and Lieutenant Governors of Ontario, one of which was born and raised here in Lindsay. I shall have more to say about these topics momentarily, but first let’s have a refresher course in basic high school civics. Canada is a constitutional monarchy operating within the framework of parliamentary democracy. Individuals representing a variety of political persuasions are chosen through popular election every few years to represent our interests in the federal and provincial legislatures. Usually, but not always, the party which secures the greatest number of seats in the legislative chamber secures the confidence of Parliament and is invited to form a government overseen by an individual we call the prime minister, or premier. The government exercises a considerable number of powers affecting everything from finances and external affairs, to
affecting everything from finances and external affairs, to healthcare and environmental stewardship. But these powers are not possessed by governments in and of themselves. They are vested in the Crown. What is the Crown? It is not the popular series on Netflix. Nor is it merely an ornamental headpiece locked away in the Tower of London. Personified by the queen and represented in Canada by the governor general and 10 lieutenant governors, the Crown is an institution encompassing the fiduciary obligations of a sovereign to his or her people and allies, ranging from administering justice and upholding treaties, to making laws for the maintenance of peace, order, and good government. In a modern democracy, the government takes responsibility for these matters, resulting in a system over which no one person rules in absolute terms. Does this mean that the Crown is a meaningless symbol? Not at all. Aside from those almost unthinkable situations in which they may use what are called ‘reserve powers’ to protect our democratic inheritance (for example, if a government refuses to step aside after being defeated in a general election or decides to forego elections entirely), the queen’s vice-regal representatives have the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn. The Crown also plays a significant role in strengthening the social fabric of Canadian society. We saw this in Vancouver two years ago, when the duke and duchess of Cambridge paid a visit to a centre for young
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young parents living in that city’s notorious downtown eastside neighbourhood and listened to their stories. We saw it when former Lieutenant Governors James Bartleman and David Onley facilitated the shipment of books to remote indigenous communities in northern Ontario. We see it when the governor general recognizes Canadians from all walks of life with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers, among many other honours and awards. In a world where the polarizing forces of party politics make headlines, inspiring cynicism and apathy instead of civic engagement, Canadians are fortunate indeed to enjoy the leadership of not only a royal family whose appeal transcends political and national borders, but also the wisdom of vice-regents like Georges Vanier, Pauline McGibbon, Lincoln Alexander, Elizabeth Dowdswell, David Johnston, and Julie Payette. What does all of this have to do with Lindsay? Well, did you know that the longest-serving lieutenant governor of Ontario was born and raised in Lindsay? Albert Matthews (1873-1949) represented the King in Ontario between 1937 and 1946.The son of George Matthews, a prominent Lindsay businessman who ran a meat-packing company, Albert graduated from Lindsay Collegiate Institute and eventually married Margaret Maud Whiteside, of town. Though he was active in Liberal circles and personally acquainted with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, Albert Matthews never held elected office. He worked as an investment broker in Toronto, served on the board of governors for McMaster University, was active in the Baptist Church, and headed Canada’s delegation to the League of Nations in 1927. Appointed during the Great Depression, Albert Matthews took up his post at a difficult time both politically and economically. Committed to cutting back on lavish expenditures, the provincial government of Mitchell Hepburn withdrew provincial funding for the vice-regal office and closed down Chorley Park, the Lieutenant Governor’s palatial residence in Toronto. Albert Matthews graciously carried out his vice-regal duties in austere circumstances, a testimony to his character and unwavering belief that service to one’s fellow citizen need not be defined by opulence. Not all was doom and gloom, though. In 1939, Albert Matthews had the pleasure of welcoming to the province Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on their cross-country tour of Canada - a tour designed to lift the spirits of a nation beset by economic depression and to
to reinforce Canada’s place on the world stage ahead of the Second World War. Said Matthews in a speech about a month after the tour’s conclusion: “His Majesty is King of Canada, ‘not by might nor power,’ but because he is to Canadians a vivid symbol of their nationality. His presence has infused us with fresh courage, a renewed spirit of enthusiasm, and a keen sense of unity.” Albert Matthews died in 1949, but the viceregal presence continued to be felt in Lindsay, with the Hon. John Kellier MacKay opening the Victoria County Historical Society’s first museum in 1962; the Hon. Earl Rowe opening a refurbished Academy Theatre in 1963; and the Hon. James Bartleman opening the 150th Lindsay Central Exhibition in 2004.
The Hon. Albert Matthews
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Kawartha Lakes Vignette JERRY HOLDER
PHOTO BY HEATHER HOLDER
For most of his life Jerry Holder has been a fisherman. He has seen more Kawartha Lakes sunrises than he can remember, and he would sometimes spot wildlife along the shoreline from the vantage point of his boat. While he always carried his camera during fishing trips, 12 years ago he decided to travel the land instead of water -- to get closer to the wildlife. “I enjoy being outdoors and close to nature. I love the peaceful feeling you get walking the trails, hearing and seeing nature, wild and free,” says Holder, who has become a well-known area photographer, particularly for his landscape shots. Holder says he loves living in Lindsay and the Kawartha Lakes area as it’s a great place to raise kids
and grandkids, “a wonderful community full of family and great friends.” For Holder, a great community is created when people work together and treat each other with a little respect, helping one another through tough times and then enjoying the good times together. When he thinks back to all those nature walks – walks he continues to take to this day – one moment stands out. He and his wife, Heather, came across a pair of young wolves play-fighting in the forest. The camera remained still in that instant, so as not to miss the moment. It lasted but briefly before they were spotted by the young pups who took off deeper into the woods. Yet it was an indelible Kawartha Lakes moment, etched into their memories. “There’s so much beauty that lives all around us.”
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