The Lindsay Advocate - April 2019

KAWARTHA LAKES COUNTRY LIVING SHOW | ’I THINK I HELPED SOMEONE TODAY’| STEAM TO DIESEL 60 YEARS AGO

THE LINDSAY ADVOCATE KAWARTHA LAKES’ FINEST MAGAZINE

Unfinished Business: Time For National

PHARMACARE

LIVING A HEALTHIER LIFE

BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO LINDSAY’S DOWNTOWN

Over 15,000 people in Kawartha Lakes do not have adequate prescription drug coverage

BENNS’ BELIEF: Relative poverty

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April 2019 • Vol 2 • Issue 13

PUBLISHED BY

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, North Durham and Southern Haliburton County. We are a proud member of the Lindsay and District, Bobcaygeon, and Fenelon Falls Chambers of Commerce.

TEAM ADVOCATE EDITORIAL

Publisher and Writer-at-Large: Roderick Benns Contributing Editor & Writer-at-Large: Trevor Hutchinson Research, Strategy & Development: Joli Scheidler-Benns Contributing Writers:

Ian McKechnie, Jamie Morris, Geoff Coleman, Judy Paul LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND TO

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Graphic Design: Barton Creative Co. Photography: Erin Smith

Sienna Frost

CONTENTS 4 6 7 8 12 13 18 20 23 24 25 26 28 30

Letters to the Editor UpFront Benns’ Belief Unfinished Business: National Pharmacare Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show Breathing More Life into Lindsay’s Downtown Kawartha Lakes Volunteers Living A Healthier Life City Notes I Volunteer For...

Compounding: Remedy’sRx Friends & Neighbours with Jamie Morris Just in Time with Ian McKechnie Trevor’s Take

Visit www.lindsayadvocate.ca for many more stories FOLLOW US ON

d The Lindsay Advocate @lindsayadvocate Roderick Benns @roderickbenns

c /The Lindsay Advocate PRINTING

Printed by Maracle Inc. OUR PRIVACY POLICY 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 Photos, text, and art work contained in The Lindsay Advocate are copyrighted and may not be published, broadcast, or rewritten without the express permission of the Publisher.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.

ABOUT US Even when life circumstances pulled me to other places, there was a greater part of me that always wanted to be home – in Kawartha Lakes. I’ve come back to try and make a positive difference in my community, this time with my family.

My wife and I created The Lindsay Advocate to be media with a social purpose, to advocate for people over corporations, to push for a fair society where all citizens can reach their full potential. We know our institutions, non-profit sector, and small businesses are critical community partners. We thank them for their support and pledge to work together for a healthier, more prosperous Kawartha Lakes. ~ Roderick and Joli

Advertising Sales: Contact us at 705-341-1496 • kawarthalakespublisher@gmail.com

A TE

LIN

DSAY AD O C V

Gem of a business We have such a gem in a long-standing Lindsay business, Kawartha Business Equipment and the McLeod’s (who own it.) In a world where we go for the ‘fast food option’ in all of our needs, this business provides incredible customer service and care to detail. They go out of their way to ensure their customers’ needs are met. I just wanted to reach out and say a huge thank you to to the McLeod’s I really appreciate you for all you do.

- Christine Warren-Butler, Dunsford

Shorely there’s a survey Your article (‘Think you own your waterfront? Don’t be so shore’ – online edition of the Advocate) while well written is like several others I have seen, in as much as there is no discussion of Road Shore Allowance. Most lakes and some rivers in Ontario have a 66 foot Road Shore Allowance. Cottage owners that own (up) to the water have either purchased it from the Municipality or the previous owner would have. In both cases there would be a survey attached to the deed. Normally that land is shown and taxed as an attachment to the property.

- Bob Barkwell

What was Scott critiquing?

On International Women’s Day, the feature editorial in the March 8 Toronto Star critiques Labour Minister Laurie Scott’s position on gender wage gap issues. It begs the question, in the previous government and in her former position as PC critic for Women’s Issues, what was she critiquing?

- Hugh Armstrong, Burnt River

Walking through history; and what of life in 2119?

I enjoyed reading Ian McKechnie’s “Walking through history: Lindsay in 1919. His reverie of life 100 years ago prompted me to wonder about life in 2119. While technology has advanced to levels beyond the imagination of a typical Lindsay resident of 1919, and with technology advancing at exponential levels today, the lives of Canadians 100 years from now will likely be beyond anything a contemporary Lindsay resident can imagine today.

Change has always been with us. Exponential change is something that will surely challenge us to adapt beyond anything mankind has ever known. Most, if not all, of the businesses that Ian mentioned in his article are long gone. Those that remain have evidently been competently led by generations of owners who succeeded in adapting those businesses to survive and thrive. Will this continue?

Interestingly, Ian made no mention of public institutions in 1919. Maybe this was because they were likely small and inconsequential to community life back then. Today, however, they are everywhere as are the people employed to work in them. In 2119, what will our mix of public, non-profit and private organizations be? Will Universal Basic Income be a standard feature of the lives of many future generations in Lindsay as future technologies continue to displace many human workers?

So many questions and only our imaginations to speculate on them.

Gene Balfour, Fenelon Falls

We want your letters! Send us your thoughts to be featured on this page.

The Lindsay Advocate welcomes your Letters to the Editor. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity or length.

Simply email thelindsayadvocate@gmail.com or mail to 151 King St., Suite 1, Lindsay, ON, K9V 1E4.

Please keep your letters to 200 words or less.

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Bridges of Victoria County: Bill Davis, not Leslie Frost I am so glad you publish such a fine magazine as The Lindsay Advocate. I enjoy every article. I beg to differ with a part of what Trevor Hutchison wrote on page 30 of the latest issue, ‘Trevor’s Take,’ entitled “Troubled Bridge Over Water.”

Everything in that (third) paragraph is pretty well true except that it all happened under the premiership of Bill Davis, not Leslie Frost. I was working for the then Department of Highways (DOH) during the time all that happened. It was Deputy Minister Cam McNab who journeyed to Fenelon Falls to make presentations concerning a bypass around the village.

At that time, Hwy. 121 ran through Fenelon and it was my own particular office that would hear of this sort of situation. Under this program whenever major repairs were needed, a village would receive a certain percentage of financial assistance to repair, repave, etc. the roadway, part of the connecting link. If it was bridge-work, more financial aid, including engineering assistance, would have been forthcoming from the Province. I remember this as though it were yesterday. We were all so stunned when we heard that the (village) had turned down the DHO’s offer. I am sure there will be a bypass sometime in the future, but by that time it will be the people of Kawartha Lakes who will be spending a much greater amount than if it had already been done.

Donald Brown, Lindsay

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

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UPFRONT

Lindsay one of

74 places across Canada in global climate strike

There were 123 world nations involved in youth-led action for climate change recently, involving 2,099 cities and towns, with 74 of those towns in Canada. Lindsay was one of those places, with nearly 75 people showing up to lend their voices in demanding more political action to solve the growing threat of climate change.

Spearheaded by *Alexis Benns, a Grade 7 student at Central Senior Public School, participants met at Victoria Park in Lindsay and slowly marched down the north side of Kent Street and back up the south side to return to the park.

She credits her fellow Grade 7 friends Katrina Navy and Gabrielle Matthew for their help and support to make it possible.

“Our leaders need to realize this isn’t going to fix itself,” Gabrielle Matthew tells the Advocate. “Our planet needs to be respected.”

Madeleine McColl, a student from I.E. Weldon Secondary School, was also happy to be a part of the march.

“I think it’s so important...to maintain our Earth for generations to come. It’s so cool that all these generations have come together today to support that vision,” McColl says.

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* Full disclosure: Daughter of Advocate owners Roderick Benns and Joli Scheidler-Benns.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

BENNS’ BELIEF

RODERICK BENNS, PUBLISHER

What we leave behind

They call it ‘relative poverty.’ Growing up in Lindsay in the east end in the 1970s and early 80s, we didn’t have much money. Mom ensured we didn’t miss any meals and she always did her very best, but I know there were some field trips my younger brother and I missed out on, and our clothing wasn’t always the latest and greatest. Atari became a thing in my generation, but it was something I would experience only at a friend’s house. Most of the time for fun we did other things, like watch mile-long freight trains inch across Queen Street, hoping they flattened our pennies into new possibilities.

Life back then for me was about the here and now, not the future.

When I left home at 17 the only thing I had in my back pocket was the experiences I had gathered at home and the guidance of key teachers – not any kind of monetary boost from family.

I began thinking about the inherent advantages of starting out with such a boost after reading a fascinating study recently by Stan Boutin out of the University of Alberta, on red squirrels. Turns out that those red squirrels that inherit food reserves from their elders grow up to be much more successful than their peers. They’ve got a little something to get started with in life and it positively impacts not only these specific rodents but the larger red squirrel communities.

The parallels to human society are obvious. It’s the whole ‘equality of opportunity’ versus ‘equality of outcome’ argument. Equality of opportunity people say everyone has an equal chance in life, while conveniently ignoring the fact we’re all starting from different points and that our life experiences create both advantages and disadvantages. A youth whose life was constantly disrupted by homelessness hardly has the same opportunity in life as someone who was born into wealth and familial stability. Equality of outcome people believe that the general economic conditions of our lives should be fairer, at least to get started. (Certainly there will be some people who will inevitably do more with their opportunities than others.)

My years at Queen Victoria Public School seem long ago now, but also like yesterday. Some of the people I used to know from those early years went on to interesting careers and fulfilling lives. Still many others didn’t.

What keeps me going is knowing we have a chance to advocate for policies that create more fairness and more chances for success for all of us.

We can build our community together and improve the shape of our lives and for those lives yet to come.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

Dr. Jacquelyn Nicholls invites you to a new experience in healing.

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Unfinished business:

Time for a national Pharmacare system More than 15,000 people in Kawartha Lakes do not have adequate prescription drug coverage. Far too many of our fellow citizens with a needed prescription can’t afford to get the medicine, or they ration the prescription in ill-advised ways.

Not filling a prescription (or rationing incorrectly) due to the price of medications is something experts call “cost-related non-adherence (CRNA).” That’s a fancy way of describing people who can’t afford to take their drugs properly, if it at all. And the number of people who are forced to do this is staggering.

A 2015 survey found that “24 per cent of Ontarians reported that they or a member of their household did not take their medications as prescribed, or missed medications, due to cost.” Given that, according to the CMAJO, “drugs for mental health conditions were the most commonly reported drug class for cost-related non-adherence.” It’s clear that prescription drug cost is a major problem, not just nationally, but locally.

It’s a sad reality that pharmacists are all too familiar with. Cathy Puffer is a local pharmacist and owner of Remedy’s Rx in downtown Lindsay.

“I have had many patients who take their medication on a sporadic or inconsistent basis to try and make them last longer. There are obvious detrimental health effects to playing with dosages. Patients routinely ration their medication to make it last longer. Patients who can’t afford their medication often end up with more frequent emergency room visits and hospital admissions which increase our overall health care costs,” says Puffer.

Other frontline hospital workers also have to deal with the effects of people unable to take their medication properly because of cost.

Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) represents nearly 200,000 nurses in Canada. She told The Lindsay Advocate nurses have been talking about the need for Pharmacare for decades, because they witness that need every day as they care for their patients.

TREVOR HUTCHINSON

“We watch with frustration as patients struggle to access medications they need to stay healthy, in some cases ending up in hospital repeatedly as result of not filling prescriptions, or not taking their medications as prescribed because of the cost. Sadly, in some cases, they even lose their lives.”

PREVENTABLE DEATHS Recent research by Silas’ organization points to 550670 preventable deaths per year amongst Canadians aged 55-64, and up to 70,000 older Canadians (55+), who suffer avoidable deterioration in their health status every year due to a lack of affordability of medicines.

Every developed country with a universal health care system provides universal coverage of prescription drugs -except Canada.

What would prevent our neighbours in Kawartha Lakes and elsewhere from becoming one of those sobering statistics is a national, single-payer Pharmacare system. And while some people today might confuse the idea of Pharmacare with the position of one or more political parties, the fact is that the idea has been around for as long as the health care system that we enjoy today.

We have been talking about it since the Royal Commission on Health Services in 1964 and four major investigations since. All these investigations have concluded that national Pharmacare is needed.

As Canadians we often feel pride in our universal health care but the fact is that we have dropped the ball on one of the most critical components of modern healthcare: medicine. The World Health Organization has

8

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declared that “all nations should ensure universal access to necessary medicine.” Every developed country with a universal health care system provides universal coverage of prescription drugs -- except Canada.

Because we didn’t finish the job, what arose was a patchwork of provincial and private plans that covers some Pharmacare for some people. In Ontario, there is coverage for most drugs for people under 18, those in long-term care or hospital, people on Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program, and those people 65 or over.

The Trillium Drug Benefit is an income-tested support for people whose drug costs exceed a portion of their income. Certain medications for catastrophic conditions are also covered for all citizens.That still leaves 24 per cent of Ontarians 64 and under without a drug plan.

Worse still, there are over 100 different plans across the country that provide some sort of Pharmacare.

This leads to a very inefficient system, both in terms of administrative costs and the ability to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. A 2015 paper entitled Pharmacare 2020: The Future of Drug Coverage in Canada, written by six academics for UBC’s Pharmaceutical Policy Research Collaboration, outlined the fiscal costs of our current patchwork system. It concluded that duplication of services by the mishmash of plans leads to exorbitant administration costs and notes that “in terms of drug prices, Canada’s multi-payer system is among the most expensive systems in the world, because it diminishes our purchasing power.”

“The prices of generic drugs in Canada are nearly double (79 per cent higher than) the median of prices found in other OECD countries and more than four times (445 per cent) higher than the best available prices.

Similarly, the prices of brand-name drugs in Canada are 30 per cent higher than in comparable countries like the United Kingdom. Comparable health care systems around the world achieve lower prices by using the purchasing power of a single payer for pharmaceuticals. Manufacturers who price competitively get the reward of their drugs being covered for 100 per cent of the population.

The savings can be remarkable.”

The authors use one easily understood example for the commonly prescribed Lipitor: the (2015) cost of a year’s supply of Lipitor in Canada is $811; the cost of a year’s supply in New Zealand is $15. Long story short: Canada pays some of the highest drugs per capita in the world and yet still 20 per cent of the population isn’t covered.

One of the first things the PC government led by Premier Doug Ford did when they took office was cancel -- or modify, depending on your point of view -OHIP+, which the Liberal government had introduced to basically extend Pharmacare in Ontario to those 25 and under. In March of 2019 the federal Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare (led by former Ontario Minister of Health Dr. Eric Hoskins) released an interim report advocating a list of drugs that should be available to every Canadian regardless of their ability to pay -- a move that the Globe & Mail described as ‘tip-toeing’ towards Pharmacare.

One of the authors of the Pharmacare 2020 paper, Marc-André Gagnon, PhD, from Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration, told The Lindsay Advocate why we, regardless of one’s current personal coverage, should be advocating for a national, single-payer pharmacare.

“The cost increase for private plans is simply unsustainable and most private plans are now introducing measures to better contain costs, but they do not have the tools necessary to be efficient at containing costs. Many people with private plans are now anxious about what will become (of) their private plan.”

CONT’D ON PAGE 11

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PHARMACARE: PRIVATE VS PUBLIC PLANS CONT’D FROM PAGE 9

Gagnon anticipates resistance to Pharmacare from those who believe that private plans are better because, contrary to public plans, they expect to cover drugs that do not provide value for money. He considers this to be harmful in that it provides incentives for drug companies to produce insignificant drugs at high prices.

A universal public plan, according to Gagnon, would cover “all efficient drugs that provide value for money at a fraction of the cost we pay for them right now in our fragmented system.” Employers could still provide additional coverage for what he calls wasteful drugs while still benefiting from a reduced cost for the bulk of prescribed drugs.

For people who already have public coverage, “national Pharmacare would simply mean they would get better coverage at a lower cost due to the greater bargaining capacity of a national system,” adds Gagnon.

The trend in drug manufacturing sees expensive niche drugs being developed as opposed to the ‘blockbuster drugs’ intended for a mass market.

This means that drugs are becoming more expensive and this means higher costs with fewer benefits for those of us lucky to be on an employer plan. With the rise of the gig economy, fewer employers are actually offering those plans, as noted by the think-tank C.D. Howe Institute: “the percentage of Canadian employers offering retirement health benefits to new employees has fallen from 62 per cent in 2002 to 49 per cent in 2011.”

There is no doubt that number has fallen even more since then, making local employers like Jason Hore, owner of St. Dave’s Diner in Lindsay, a growing rarity. The costs for him, depending on the number of employees at any given time, ranges from $12,000 to $20,000 a year. Every economic model of our current system sees those costs rising at a rate far above inflation. And let’s not forget, healthy people make better employees.

“Pharmacare would be a “preventable measure that definitely would help,” Hore says, meaning such things as employee absenteeism and overall employee wellness.

Hore says he would think a national Pharmacare plan “would be a given” in a country like Canada.

NATIONAL, SINGLE-PAYER SYSTEM

Our current system just isn’t working.

“The evidence (for universal Pharmacare) is overwhelming (and) is the best option, both economically and for ensuring patient access,” says Silas.

“Only a universal Pharmacare program will allow us to pool our buying power to negotiate lower drug prices and save in the range of $4 to $11 billion every year. And only a universal Pharmacare program can transform our current patchwork system into seamless coverage for everyone.”

A coming election means that we will undoubtedly hear about Pharmacare for a month or two. However this is one issue that shouldn’t be subsumed with partisan bickering. This issue affects literally every Canadian and all available data points to one conclusion: it is time for a national, single-payer system.

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Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show is back }} Fenelon Falls Community Centre has over 125 vendors, exhibitors

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The Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show returns to the Fenelon Falls Community Centre April 26-28 with over 125 vendors and exhibitors participating. Staged by the Fenelon Falls and District Chamber of Commerce, the show has something for everyone, no matter what living in Kawartha Lakes country means to them.

Lead organizer, Tim Wisener, describes the event as part outdoor recreation show and part home show, with a good measure of cottage show on top of that.

Attendees can expect to see local contractors, building material suppliers, renovation specialists, and deck design companies, but also representatives from golf courses and recreational equipment dealers. As an added bonus, community organizations and non-profits are also invited to set up information booths as well.

Additionally, there will be a few surprises in the arena dressing rooms. Area visual artists will transform those spaces with interactive art installations. Wisener didn’t want to give away too much information, but was very enthusiastic about what visitors will experience.

With an on-site restaurant, and the Barn and Bunkie’s sprawling Spring Sale, organizers expect more than 3,500 through the doors. With a free pancake breakfast Saturday morning provided by the show’s presenting sponsor, Enbridge, that’s a safe bet.

Admission is again free, thanks to the generosity of G. Hart and Sons Well Drilling, and Tow-All Inc.

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The quest for more livable spaces above downtown Lindsay stores Entrepreneur says people are leaving cities to go rural, so City must be ready

RODERICK BENNS, PUBLISHER

PHOTO: ERIN SMITH

One of Lindsay’s leading commercial building owners, Steve Podolsky, says he’d love to create more housing opportunities above downtown businesses but says there are a lot of obstacles in the way.

Those obstacles include the fact that so many of the spaces on the second and third floors have languished so long that there is no water, heat, or electricity that are even close to being ready to be activated – not to mention that the thin walls no longer meet more advanced fire codes.

Between those exhorbitant costs to make the second and third floors livable, and the fact that it would be a huge disruption to businesses, these issues are inevitably delaying development in the downtown.

“We’d like to do something, but it’s also difficult to achieve when you have a business operating on the first floor. This isn’t like like minor wiring or a clean-up.

These places were abandoned so long ago…it’s like starting from ground zero,” says Podolsky.

“How do I do that work and not disturb the business down below?” he asks.

That question, and a few others, is something downtown entrepreneur Ryan Oliver hopes to see answered. Oliver is the owner of Pinnguaq, a not-forprofit company based in both Nunavut and Lindsay that incorporates STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) for young people.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

CONT’D ON PAGE 14

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MILLION DOLLAR MAKEOVER

PHOTO: SIENNA FROST

Ryan Oliver chats with one of his employees, Maria Coates.

“A strong strategy for the downtown in Lindsay is vital to push back against the corporatization of the west end of Lindsay, especially if a Walmart eventually gets here,” says Oliver.

All of this is to say, what kind of vision do we have for the town?

“We need to ask ourselves what sort of things we want to define Lindsay,” Oliver adds, pointing out that the wide streets, local shops, and proximity to public services all available downtown is already a defining aspect of Lindsay, but that this image “is by no means secure.”

“The ingredients are all there. In our (earlier) search for space, rents are fairly low, the downtown looks good and there is available space.Whether or not landlords are taking the steps to make that space available is another story,” Oliver says.

Podolsky is a landlord with a long, familial history in Lindsay. His business, A & L Investments, was started by his grandparents who lived in the area up until the 1950s.

He now owns more than 20 buildings in the downtown core, including the Century Theatre, but only one with residential units (the old York Tavern building which has 24 units.)

While he lives in Toronto he is far from being uninvolved in the community, sitting on the Business Improvement Association (BIA) for Lindsay, as well as the downtown revitalization committee and the parking committee. He has been involved with Lindsay’s development for about 25 years.

“We’d like to do more in Lindsay -- it’s near and dear to my heart,” he says. He notes that downtown revitalization has happened in other Kawartha Lakes’ communities, too, for the betterment of the whole City.

“When one area does well it benefits the whole entire city.”

Benefiting the whole City is something the municipal government had in mind when they created the Million Dollar Makeover program that provides loans and grants to property owners for this type of project.

City of Kawartha Lakes’ Director of Development Services Chris Marshall points out the funding program was available to support property and business owners in improving the visual and functional aspects of their commercial, mixed-use commercial/residential or heritage designated residential buildings. The City had more than $1 million in financial incentives available through loan and grant programs. Applications are now closed and are being considered and processed.

“It can bring the type of workforce and entrepreneurs that will revitalize our economy,” Marshall says.

He notes Council has also just committed an additional $100,000 in the 2019 budget in loans to businesses and property owners looking to enhance their storefronts, facades, and increase the amount of residential units available.

Marshall says he understands that “the main reason that property owners in downtown Lindsay don’t redo the upper floors into apartments is because of the cost.”

“Due to the need to meet modern building code which requires much higher fire ratings for walls and floors and accesses, costs can become very high. The property owner is also required to pay development charges for the new units ($10,000-14,000 per unit depending on the number of bedrooms). The combination of these costs makes it difficult financially for most owners,” Marshall says.

But couldn’t (and shouldn’t?) some of those development charges be waived to help building owners out?

Podolsky says the downtown revitalization committee has made a proposal to abolish those developmental fees to help building owners like him move forward.

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CONT’D ON PAGE 16

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AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE DOWNTOWN CONT’D FROM PAGE 14

“It’s difficult to achieve, but I don’t think it’s impossible,” to make these upper spaces livable once again.

Podolsky says it will have to be part of a greater discussion, and discussing those development fees would be a good start.

“There are lots of great people who work in many City departments. I’m sure they’d sit down and work with us.”

“It’s difficult to achieve, but I don’t think it’s impossible,” to make these upper spaces livable once again.

Working with developers must also include the question of parking, although the three largest downtowns in Kawartha Lakes – Lindsay, Bobcaygeon, and Fenelon Falls – are in the middle of a parking study.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

From an affordable housing standpoint, Hope Lee, manager of housing and CEO of Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing, says the City offered funding to assist development of units above downtown stores in 2018 – the Multi-unit Rehabilitation Program.

“We offered $10,000 per unit for up to 10 units without any take-up,” she says, noting the Advocate and other media widely reported on the offer.

To be clear, not a single building owner took the City up on this offer of development money.

“We may have an opportunity to offer that program again, but before we do it would be helpful to understand why there was no interest last year,” Lee says.

The Advocate reached out again to Podolsky to ask why A&L Investments didn’t take advantage of this program.

“I am not sure that I was aware of the $10,000 per unit,” he notes, but acknowledges even if he was he’s not sure his business is in a position right now to undertake a project of that magnitude.

“We would be starting at ground zero when renovating the upstairs portions of our buildings,” Podolsky says, noting he would have had to have completed architectural plans, consultations with the building department and other City departments and a have a full plan in place with regard to his commercial tenants on the ground floor even before starting.

The developer adds, “This is something we would consider undertaking, but right now we have no time frame in mind.”

It’s obvious that more financial incentive is an ongoing need, but so is more one-onone communication between the City and key downtown developers to ensure they are fully aware of potentially helpful City programs.

For Oliver, the entrepreneur who sees Lindsay’s downtown as key, he says his biggest concern about downtown right now “is not that it needs any new ingredients, just that we won’t take advantage of what we have, while the window is open.”

By ‘we’ he means a number of things.

“Anyone who has an interest in the success and sustainability of downtown Lindsay. He points to the ‘Million Dollar Makeover’ plan from the City as “exactly the type of action that is needed.”

He also means the entrepreneurs who are either here already or fleeing the cost of living in Toronto. They may need encouragement and support to set up downtown.

Oliver says he also refers to the general population “who need to be given a reason to… consciously make the decision to make downtown their home and their first choice when shopping.”

The entrepreneur says people are already leaving the cities and moving rural.

“Online jobs mean it doesn’t matter where you live -- quality of life is better here.”

He remembers when Pinnguaq recently had a partner company come to Lindsay from Toronto, for the first time for some meetings.

“One of the directors we were meeting with looked at the downtown as snow was lightly falling and said, ‘It’s like you guys live in a storybook!’”

“It’s true. We should make sure it stays that way.”

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}} National Volunteer Week April 7-13

‘I THINK I HELPED SOMEONE TODAY’

Kawartha Lakes’ volunteers enjoy giving back

CHARLOTTE NEUMANN

BRIAN IDENOUYE

At the risk of sounding like a self-absorbed 12-year old with a thousand dollar cell phone, why would anyone give up their own time to be a volunteer? As these four people show, there are as many reasons as there are opportunities to give back.

Gerry Rintoul has volunteered since the days of free cocktails on domestic flights. He started with the Fenelon Falls Volunteer Fire Department when awakened at 4:30 a.m. by a fire across the road from his apartment. With only two fire fighters responding, he joined the efforts and kept putting water on a stubborn blaze for three hours until he had to report to work.

Now 47 years later, Rintoul has held ranks of captain, deputy chief and chief, and responded to countless accidents, fires, and water rescues and recoveries. Last year alone, he logged a staggering 400 hours with the department, which makes you wonder how he manages to volunteer with the Kawartha Lakes Snowmobile Club.

Rintoul was named their 2006 volunteer of the year. Driving the trail groomer (up to 280 hours in some years), serving on the local executive, and at

GERRY RINTOUL

GEOFF COLEMAN

BRIAN TAYLOR

the provincial level, repairing and maintaining club equipment, teaching the Snowmobile Operator’s Course, and ensuring trails stay accessible will do that.

Later that year, he was named Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs Volunteer of the Year, and subsequently went on to receive that honour for all of Canada, awarded at the International Snowmobile Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The best part of the experience was making contact with people who have a similar interest. As the 40-year club volunteer said, “I can now call up someone in the States, or Finland, or Russia and talk about snowmobiling.” He expressed similar thoughts when asked why he has remained with the fire department so long, saying that spending time with people who have a similar interest, as part of a team, is a big, intangible reward.

At 18 years of age, Charlotte Neumann has already spent two weeks in Nicaragua and three weeks in Kenya on volunteer projects. When I told her mother that I wanted to interview her for this article, she said, and I quote, “Charlotte doesn’t really volunteer a lot.”

After some thought, her Mom realized that Charlotte’s

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volunteer endeavours are just a part of who she is and they usually stem from her desire to solve a problem.

The Grade 12 Fenelon Falls Secondary School student volunteered abroad with the Me to We organization helping build classrooms. In addition to the foreign projects, she was involved in re-instating recycling at her school, staging a Grade 7/8 SchoolReach event, helping at church summer camps, and baking for the FFSS Spirit of Christmas fundraiser.

She seems most proud of organizing a “Mini Me to We Day”, that highlighted the organization’s efforts, and featured motivational and educational speakers.

When asked why more youth don’t take on projects like she has, she speculated that people think they lack the skills needed. However, by volunteering she has learned those very skills… project management, delegating, knowing your role in a group, and even communicating without a shared language.

Additionally, she feels her world view has widened (walking 10 km to get water will do that) and hopes that same awareness wears off on those around her.

No discussion of volunteering would be complete without mentioning kids’ sports. He’s the first to point out that there are many people like him, but Brian Taylor is a good representative for volunteers in athletics. In addition to his 28 years of coaching high school sports like football, boys and girls’ hockey, volleyball, track and field, and badminton, he has also acted as a coach, supervisor of coaches, and ice convener for Sturgeon Lake Minor Hockey, and coached with the Lindsay Lynx and Kawartha Lakes Fury.

Like many people, Brian Taylor became involved because his own children were going to be playing minor hockey, but as has been stated previously, he stayed with it because he was surrounded by good people who shared a common interest.

The value in connecting with people was echoed

by Brian Idenouye, a Community Care volunteer four days per week in the Adult Day Program, as a Community Care Driver, and a hospice home visitor.

He has surrounded himself with what he calls “a network of people with positive energy.” That’s the big payoff for him -- being part of a movement, a family of like-minded individuals who are fun to be around.

He has been volunteering for 10 years, and is quick to add that no matter what your interests are, there is a place to volunteer. If you are interested in getting

your feet wet in the volunteer community, he enthusiastically recommends the Friendly Visitor program, which provides check-ins and visits. Check-ins can be done over the phone if you aren’t ready for a full-on visit.

He can’t say enough about the value of getting yourself outside your comfort zone and taking that first step, stressing that you will get more out of it than you put in. You may discover, as Idenouye has, that at the end of the day you find yourself saying, “I think I helped someone today. That was a pretty good day.”

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NATURE NOTES WITH SUZANNE ALDEN

WHAT IS THIS?

Come spring, these burrows appear on many lawns for just a few weeks. Ground nesting bees account for 70% of the 20,000 bee species. Most common in Kawartha Lakes are Colletes, and when seen nesting in the hundreds, are called an aggregation. These bees are non-aggressive and do not sting unless handled.

If you should have any on your property, avoid using pesticides if possible. They are an important pollinator for spring crops and flowers.

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19

READER SPOTLIGHT Courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Public Library

KLPS Chief Mark Mitchell

LIVING A HEALTHIER LIFE:

}} Collective wealth into well-being

“I love reading history, particularly military history.

I picked this book up (Enemy Coast Ahead) during a visit to the International Bomber Command Center in 2018.

The wartime accomplishments of Canadians and so many others are inspiring. I always look for the experiences and lessons of those thrust into positions of leadership under the most trying and adverse conditions.”

THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEER CRISIS RESPONDERS

Kawartha Haliburton Victim Services works closely with police and emergency services to provide emotional and practical support to victims of crime and tragic circumstance.

We could not and would not exist without our dedicated and caring volunteers.

705-878-5505

www.victim-services.org

JUDY PAUL

I always feel a little anxious sitting in the dentist chair, but fortunately I usually only need a cleaning. One thing I never worried about was paying for our family’s dental visits. Prescription drug coverage, dental care and other health care options were part of a benefits package my family received through my spouse’s unionized workplace.

Why would I not wish that peace of mind for everyone?

Taking care of our bodies is a human need, but we have yet to make a commitment to a comprehensive health care system for everyone regardless of work status or income. Dental care and prescription drug coverage is both essential and expensive. Many people however, do not receive benefits through their workplace and cannot afford private insurance. Others remain on social assistance rather than take a low wage job without benefits.

It is well documented that chronic stress leads to poor health. Middle class wages have stagnated, contract work has increased and union jobs have declined and this leads to more anxiety, uncertainty and insecurity.

In her book on basic income, health economist Evelyn Forget reminds us that: “Economic insecurity exists when a family fears that its income might fall dramatically without advance notice and without the resources necessary to ride out the risk. Economic insecurity is a state of mind rather than a characteristic of an income flow.”

Predictable income, even if low or in the form of benefits helps to reduce economic insecurity. Evaluations from the basic income pilot illustrate the connection between increased funds and decreased stress.

The baseline survey reported that at the start of the pilot 81% of participants were suffering from moderate to severe psychological stress. After receiving the basic income 88% of respondents reported less stress and anxiety and 73% had less depression. Upon cancellation, not surprisingly almost 83% of people felt worried about the future.

20

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MARLENE MORRISON NICHOLLS is the president of Stewart Morrison Insurance.

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CITY NOTES JAMIE MORRIS

1 APRIL SHOWERS BRING . . .FLOWERS, RIGHT? Over the past five years City horticulturist Megan Phillips and her team have planted and naturalized approximately 30,000 tulip, daffodil and other bulbs. Some vivid spring colour to look forward to. She has also created her design for the Memorial Park floral display. This year, to promote the Kawartha Lakes Bee City initiative, the design will feature the Bee City logo.

In keeping with the theme, the plantings will include annuals that provide nectar and pollen for pollinators.

2 BUT THOSE SHOWERS ALSO BRING . . . POTHOLES. In 2018 the City spent $1,070,665 on cold patching roads and $399,522 repairing potholes with hot mix asphalt. Altogether the roads department received 5,055 service requests, which includes pothole complaints and maintenance requests.

Chantel M. Lawton barrister, solicitor and notary public

“Guiding Families Forward”

Collaborative Family Law Process & Mediation 189 Kent St. W., Suite 220 Lindsay, Ontario

705-878-9949 www.chantellawton.com

3 DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION. At an open house at the Victoria Park Armoury, the City shared streetscape plans for the Lindsay downtown (the area bounded by Victoria Ave., Peel St., Lindsay St. and Russell St.). Expect some modest improvements for pedestrians: traffic-calming features, several crosswalks, and textured pavers for the sidewalks. But don’t expect any bike lanes. This year’s portion of the project will focus on roads, water, sewer and streetscape assets for Russell and Peel streets. (In the 2019 capital budget, $6 million dollars was approved for this work).

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4 NO EXCUSES FOR YOU. Beginning April 1, the limit for leaf and yard waste drop off to the landfill was increased to 250 kg/ 551 pounds per trip, so no excuse for not tidying up your yard. What happens with all that plant material? The woody matter -sticks and branches -- is turned into wood chips which any resident can pick up, free, any Wednesday starting from April until October, while quantities last. The rest is composted.

5 NO EXCUSE FOR ME, EITHER. In last month’s City Notes I misspelled Mayor Andy Letham’s name.

Twice. In one paragraph. A paragraph in which I announced that a branding project -- later removed from the budget and deferred indefinitely -- would get underway this spring. I’ll tidy up my act.

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I VOLUNTEER FOR...

A Place Called Home Glenda Morris PHOTO: SIENNA FROST

I volunteer at A Place Called Home because helping people eat well is something I can do. From the kitchen I have the privilege of seeing first hand how the organization transforms lives and how much the work is appreciated.

Many clients continue their connection after being residents, returning for a meal, to do laundry, have a coffee and visit -- and then become volunteers. A Place Called Home does more than provide shelter; it builds community.

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ART AND SCIENCE of compounding at Remedy’sRx sets pharmacy apart

Cathy Puffer, owner of Remedy’sRx in Lindsay is passionate

about compounding. Chances

are most of us don’t really know

what that means from a

pharmaceutical standpoint – it’s just

not one of those everyday words.

Yet compounding -- the art and

science of creating personalized PHOTO: SIENNA FROST medicine -- solves many problems

that patients have. And Remedy’sRx

is the only pharmacy she knows of in Kawartha Lakes that offers this service.

“We can compound dosages that aren’t commercially available for patients,” Puffer says. “This is helpful in many instances. Patients trying to stop medications often find it easier to wean off rather than stopping suddenly.” She uses anti-depressants as a good example of this.

Remedy’sRx can make the weaning more gradual by personalizing dosages for patients. For instance, SNRIs are a class of antidepressants that are often very difficult for patients to discontinue. One in particular, Cymbalta, is only commercially available in 30 mg and 60 mg capsules which cannot be split.

“We are able to use compounding to help patients come off of medications like Cymbalta by compounding lower strength capsules (i.e. 15, 10, and 5 mg), making the discontinuation more tolerable.”

Another valuable aspect of compounding, Puffer says, is her pharmacy’s ability to help children receive the medications they need. That might mean compounding medications into liquids or other dosage forms to make them easier to administer.

“We are also able to add or modify flavours and textures in cases of autistic children or children with special medication requirements.”

The pharmacy owner says compounding really only exists with a triad of communication between the compounding pharmacist, the physician and the patient.

Compounding pharmacies can also often make medications that have been discontinued. That’s helpful for patients who have success with certain products no longer available. In some cases the pharmacy can also compound medications that are on back order, to prevent therapy interruption.

PHOTO: SIENNA FROST

Such pharmacies also can provide dosage forms that aren’t commercially available -- liquids when only capsules and tablets are available, or creams for topical application to avoid side effects and drug interactions, capsules that are free of allergens, lollipops and suppositories.

Compounding requires specialized equipment, which is a significant investment. Since everything is personalized, the time required to make these prescriptions is significant.

“Most pharmacies don’t have the space and manpower to provide this service,” Puffer says.

The training to successfully offer compounding never ends. “I took a four-day course at the University of Florida when I first started compounding and have continued to update with courses at least every year,” she notes.

Puffer will also send her staff who work in the compounding lab for continuing education courses. Basic compounding courses are required for PharmD students as part of their curriculum at University of Toronto and Waterloo (the only universities in Ontario that offer pharmacy degrees).

All pharmacists will have some knowledge of compounding; however more education is required to be a true compounding pharmacist and operate a compounding lab.

Puffer says compounding is actually just using “the roots of pharmacy.”

“This used to be the only way to obtain medications prior to the 1960s and the start of commonly available manufactured medications.

I like to think of a compounding pharmacy as the ‘problem solver’ -- we can help patients who haven’t been able to get results from manufactured medications.”

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

25

FRIENDS & NEIGHBOURS

ACTIVE YOUNG PHARMACIST enjoys advocating for healthier community Pick a pharmacist at Axis Pharmacy, any pharmacist, and it’s certain to be a Qaaboos.

Axis in the Kent Place Mall is a family business and working alongside owner/pharmacist Ali Qaaboos are his son, Mehran, and daughter, Sheeva, both also pharmacists.

It’s Sheeva I’ve arranged to talk with, over a coffee at Boiling Over’s Coffee Vault. With this month’s feature focus on Pharmacare, I’m looking to learn about a pharmacist’s professional life -- what it’s like on her side of that long, tall counter.

I’m after something else as well. Those counters separate us from the white-coated pharmacists bustling about with concentrated energy, and I’d like to know more about Sheeva herself and her life away from work.

SHEEVA (Away From Work)

Sheeva’s dad immigrated to Canada from Iran in the late 1980s but from the time she started Kindergarten at Leslie Frost, Sheeva herself has been in Lindsay. Apart, that is, from four years studying pharmacy in the UK. “London was,” she says, “a huge culture shock after Lindsay.”

And returning? “Called for a readjustment,” she admits. “But becoming more involved in the community changed my life and changed my perspective on living here as well,” she adds.

That involvement has included much volunteering.

She started off picking up and delivering stacks of pizzas to A Place Called Home.

A notice at VCCS led her to the Olde Gaol Museum where she conducted tours, helped plan exhibits and events, and contributed her expertise to research the museum’s large collection of 19th century items from Lindsay’s first drugstore (on the corner of Kent and William, and run by E. Gregory, “Chemist and Druggist.”)

One item is a “Sugar of Lead” label cheerfully emblazoned with skull and crossbones.

JAMIE MORRIS

A 20-something with lots of energy, Sheeva curls and plays hockey in the winter and plays soccer in the summer; Sport and Recreation Council Council Coordinator Gary Pearson introduced her to martial arts.

And then there’s her interest in film. She’s taken workshops at Hart House in Toronto, and earned a “miscellaneous crew” credit on a film that premiered at the TIFF Bell Lightbox last fall.

Oh, and she helped out with the Durham Street community gardens and is interested in food security.

In sum, this white-coated pharmacist scurrying around behind the counter has a rich, fully-engaged life away from work.

SHEEVA (At Work)

Our conversation turns to pharmacy and I ask what it’s like to work alongside her father and brother.

“It’s great!” she tells me. “We never have to face the struggles or the triumphs of the pharmacy alone.

Sheeva Qaaboos

26

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Both my brother and dad are incredibly smart, and absolute heroes in my life.

I really can’t complain at all.”

Up to now Sheeva has been relaxed and animated, but as we talk about pharmacy and healthcare, the tone changes. She wants time to deliberate.

So we agree: After our chat I’ll send some questions and she’ll compose written answers. Here’s the exchange: JM: TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT THE PHARMACY “TEAM” YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT? I love the community I’ve grown attached to at the pharmacy. We’re fortunate to work alongside our team of pharmacy assistants and front staff. They are so sharp and incredibly hard-working. Our customers are so understanding and we’re grateful they’ve chosen to support a small local business. Doctors, nurses, shelter staff, medical receptionists, and pharmacists from other places are all part of this mosaic.

JM: WHAT IS YOUR ROLE WITHIN THIS TEAM? As a pharmacist, you’re either the final point of contact within the healthcare system or the first; for those without a family doctor you might be the only contact. It is your role to make the final call. You have to make sure the directions, the dosage, and the medications themselves are safe, appropriate, and effective. Part of your role is to also provide injections, make mixtures, and help with medical inquiries.

JM: HOW IS THE ROLE OF A PHARMACIST CHANGING? Pharmacists are becoming increasingly involved. We’re trying to alleviate pressure on clinics and hospitals, but more importantly, get our patients faster assistance. No one wants to wait eight hours at the hospital for something a pharmacist can recommend over-the-counter.

JM: WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST REWARDING ABOUT YOUR WORK AS A PHARMACIST? I love how people-oriented it is. And it feels good when someone says you’ve legitimately helped them. You’re also constantly on your toes and learning non-stop. And you have to, if you want to be helpful.

JM: NOT EVERYONE CAN AFFORD TO FILL THE MEDICINES THEY’VE BEEN PRESCRIBED. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS? No one should have to walk away from a medication they need because of an affordability issue. It’s genuinely heartbreaking and it happens far too often.

And I think it’s wrong that people have their benefits taken away after gaining employment. It’s very discouraging.

JM: FINALLY, AS A YOUNG PHARMACIST AND COMMUNITY MEMBER, WHAT ARE A COUPLE OF CHANGES YOU HOPE TO SEE FOR HEALTHCARE IN THE FUTURE? I would love to see a complete overhaul in mental health. People should have quicker and easier access to counsellors, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

Helping people with addictions should be a massive priority as well. We really need to take care of each other, and transform our attitude. Everyone should know how to use a naloxone kit.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

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27

JUST IN TIME

The Last Gasp in Lindsay

IAN McKECHNIE

Diesel trains displaced steam 60 years ago Sixty years ago, on April 24, 1959, a puffing and hissing steam locomotive owned by the Canadian National Railway departed Lindsay en route to the CNR’s Coboconk subdivision northwest of town with a work train in tow.The assignment wasn’t a particularly glamourous one – perhaps some crossties needed replacing, or the ballast holding the track in place needed a little TLC – but the trip was nonetheless an historic one. No. 91, the E-10-a “Mogul” tasked with guiding the train across the fields and through the thickets between Lindsay and Lorneville would be the last steam-powered locomotive based in Lindsay to be used in regular service.

Over the next two decades, a couple of steamers (notably, the CNR’s No. 6218 U-2-g Northern and No. 6060 “Bullet-Nosed Betty”) plied the rails into Lindsay with trainloads of sightseers, but for all practical purposes, the steam era was dead. The evolution of technology had finally caught up with these venerable machines and displaced them with diesel-electric engines that were cheaper, cleaner, and safer to operate.

With the change in technology came the elimination of jobs – many of which were highly specialized.

Boilermakers were sent packing, as were those who filled locomotive tenders with coal and those who cleaned ash pits following a run.

Bill Huskinson remembers those times well. From his suite in Adelaide Place, a stone’s throw away from the overgrown site of CN’s erstwhile coal dock and engine sheds, Huskinson regales me with tales of his 13-year career as a fireman and engine hostler.

“Over 300 employees worked in Lindsay when I came up from Belleville,” he recalls. When Huskinson arrived in 1954, railway service was booming. Conductors,

engineers, brakemen, firemen, and shop staff took up residence in the south ward, with many concentrated in the vicinity of Durham and Melbourne Streets.

Although films like the Polar Express have portrayed the steam locomotive in a magical, often romantic light, Huskinson is honest about the hot, dirty, and dangerous conditions to which he and his colleagues had to become accustomed. “Some engineers could almost destroy your fire because of the way they would start their train,” he remarks, “creating such a draft that it would pull your fire off the grates [in the firebox].” On other occasions, it was the locomotive fireman who would be at fault.

“If you had too much water in the boiler, the exhaust would pull the extra water up the stack,” Huskinson explains. The hot water would drench laundry that was drying on lines located metres away from the track, much to the chagrin of many a homemaker.

Even if laundry escaped a second “washing” with expelled locomotive water, it would occasionally fall victim to clouds of black smoke billowing out of passing engines.

Ruth Williamson, whose father and brother worked as steamfitters at CN’s Lindsay shops, remembers this only too well.

“At the time, my family lived close to the railway track, and my mother had just put out a fresh load of white laundry to hang on the clothesline,” Ruth recalls. “When she noticed her clean whites being stained from the clouds of black smoke she called into the train station and had quite a heated conversation about her now coal smokestained laundry. When my father got home that evening, he told my mother about a very angry call that someone at the railway had received from a woman worried about her laundry. You can imagine how he felt when he found out it was his wife!”

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Steam locomotives consumed copious amounts of coal and water, were profuse polluters, and could pose serious safety risks to those operating them. Regardless, railroaders like Huskinson praised them for their incredible pulling power. “The 2600 series were the workhorses in Lindsay,” he says of the CNR’s N-4 freight engines, one of which is preserved in Haliburton.

Their days, however, were numbered. “It was a gradual process,” says Huskinson of the transition from steam to diesel, “but the CN didn’t want to delay it when they found out how efficient a diesel was.”

And delay it they didn’t. Locomotives were sent to scrapyards by the hundreds. The water tower opposite Durham Street, which once quenched the thirst of No. 91 and its kin, came down in 1960. The shops which

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employed Ruth Williamson’s father and brother were reduced to rubble the following year. “When Lindsay finally shut down,” Huskinson remembers, “there were 15 of us that were out of work overnight, more or less.” He commuted to a large roundhouse in Toronto for a few years thereafter, sometimes rooming in an attic. “It wasn’t easy,” he says.

Fast forward six decades, and technological change continues unabated.

As AI and automation make inroads in Canadian society, business leaders and lawmakers alike will have to ensure that opportunities are created for those displaced by new technology. Some of those opportunities may very well take the form of work in the growing field of green technology, for contrary to popular political rhetoric, preserving jobs and preserving the environment are not mutually exclusive.

Nor is preserving the environment incompatible with preserving North America’s rich railroading history – in a fitting twist of irony, the historic steam trains circling Disneyland were converted ten years ago to run on carbon-neutral cooking oil.

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TREVOR’S TAKE

TREVOR HUTCHINSON, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

We should go back to the future

In 1834, a town plan for Lindsay was envisioned on what was then nothing more than a cedar swamp. The planners envisioned something different, and grander than the Purdy’s Mills hamlet which had been established south of the Scugog River almost 15 years previously. Kent and Victoria Streets were designed to be one and a half times wider than the standard 66-foot right of way. As the final report on Downtown Heritage Conservation District notes, this was done “presumably to highlight their importance but also to make maneuvering horses and carts that much easier.”

So urban planning for this area of our city has, from its very outset, consisted of a blend of anticipating future transit needs and a vision of something bigger and special. Kent and Victoria Streets didn’t need to be that wide when the plan was envisioned and that width wouldn’t be needed for a decade or two. It’s also important to note that the very first commercial development on the new town plan wasn’t a creamery or a tannery or a blacksmith shop.

It was a tavern, located where the Academy Theatre is now – an historical reminder that downtowns are ultimately about a community gathering together.

As my colleague Jamie Morris recently reported online, the direction of the latest effort of Lindsay downtown revitalization seems to be pointing in a direction where car culture prevails. That approach may well address current transportation needs, and frankly reflect the wishes of a majority of our citizens now. But good urban planning, in the words of urban planner Donald Watson, “is a gift of its designers and makers to the future.”

Countless studies point to a direct correlation between good pedestrian and cycling infrastructure to health, happiness and the overall ‘livability’ of an urban area. To be sure, liveability is rather an ephemeral concept but it basically is about ‘ability to access opportunities to improve one’s quality of life.’

And make no mistake, cities compete on the livability index. When a doctor -- using just one example -- is considering relocating to a small town, factors like livability and culture can be the deciding votes. Getting lost in the 1950’s-era details of angle parking (which by the way should be back-in, or what the British call ‘reverse echelon parking’) kind of misses the point.

As Watson reminds us, urban planning can “artificially simplify something that actually needs to be complex.”

While we still have the time, we would be well advised, like our forbearers did for this same stretch of road, to consider the future -- and risk being great.

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