(What’s that? Cottage season isn’t coming up soon? I’m trying to be optimistic here folks OK? Just roll with it.) Last week Paul MacInnes indefatigable lake steward and chairman of the Coalition of Haliburton Property…
Small victories
By Chad Ingram Published Feb. 23 2017 Never underestimate the power of a group of angry people. Last May it seeped out into the community that the province intended to close the Service Ontario office…
Promises and lies
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has broken numerous election pledges since taking office but the fracturing of a very clear promise to reform Canada’s electoral system before the next election is perhaps the most egregious because…
Let Airbnb be
It would be a waste of time and resources for local townships to attempt to regulate or restrict private short-term cottage rentals in Haliburton County. Short-term rentals and the noise and other complaints they sometimes…
Fake news and alternative facts
Post-truth. That’s the era pundits and professors say we’ve now entered. A time with such an overwhelming excess of information much of it circulated through the digital tentacles of the Internet that finding information that…
Decreasingly rural
This weekend members of the Haliburton County Fair board will get together for their annual general meeting. Among the topics of conversation will be the future of the fair itself. With a need to replenish…
A losing trade
By Chad Ingram Published Jan. 12 2017 The Wynne government is starting 2017 with its promise to reduce Ontarians’ Hydro One bills but with the introduction of the province’s cap-and-trade system on Jan. 1 it…
The top 10
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The top 10
A s is an annual tradition around here here are the top 10 news stories of 2016 for Minden Hills and Algonquin Highlands. Originally scheduled for end-of-summer completion an expansion of the Algonquin Highlands township…
Live streaming done cheap
By Chad Ingram Published Dec. 22 2016 Minden Hills council recently made a decision to forgo the live streaming of council meetings to the Internet at least for now. While it’s true one could argue…
Ham-fisting it
Like a drunken Vaudeville performer the Trudeau government is doing a ham-fisted jig away from its promise to create a new federal voting system in this country. It’s awkward to watch. In the lead-up to…
Dying wish
Haliburton County is a community that takes care of its own. It’s something I’ve always admired about the place and have seen play out again and again and again. Take the more than $20000 that…
Community hubs
At the beginning of this school year the Minden Ontario Early Years Centre long located at the Sears building along Bobcaygeon Road was relocated into Archie Stouffer Elementary School. That relocation was celebrated with a…
Our EditorialOur Editorial
Cause for pause By Chad Ingram Published Nov. 17 2016 The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States has brought up numerous questions about just what is going on in…
Level the OMB
By Chad Ingram Published Nov. 10 2016 The province is conducting a review of the Ontario Municipal Board and is collecting input from municipalities. There is one simple and wonderful change the provincial government could…
Pointless policy
What’s the point of creating a policy if you’re not going to use it? This is a question Minden Hills councillors might ask themselves. Last week council denied support resolutions for a half dozen solar…
Rough ride for rural Ontario
By Chad Ingram Published Oct. 20 2016 It’s a tough time to be a rural Ontarian. In a province where a continually greater percentage of the population lives in urban areas a continually greater percentage…
Goldfish and trees
There is a quotation often attributed to Albert Einstein which goes something like this: “Everybody is a genius but if you judge a goldfish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its…
Really?
By Chad Ingram Published Oct. 6 2016 This is an open letter to the individual or individuals vandalizing a Haliburton business with anti-gay graffiti. If you can read of course that is. All we know…
On cliff jumping
The end of summer was tinged with tragedy in Algonquin Highlands when a 29-year-old man lost his life in a cliff-jumping incident on Raven Lake during the Labour Day weekend. The man died in what…
That sinking feeling
I’ve written this before I’m writing it now and chances are I’ll write it again in the future. Minden Hills township cannot afford an indoor swimming pool. I know I know . . . release…