The Lindsay Advocate - February 2019

READER SPOTLIGHT: DEPUTY MAYOR DOUG ELMSLIE | TROUBLED BRIDGE OVER WATER

THE LINDSAY ADVOCATE KAWARTHA LAKES’ FINEST MAGAZINE

Remember when...

Reg Learn

and the Ribbons of Steel

Black

History Month

What the Nordic Countries can Teach Us

Many Kawartha Lakes Seniors Falling through the Cracks

SPECIAL OFFER! UP TO

20% OFF** on select hearing aids

NEW YEAR • NEW TECHNOLOGY • NEW WIDEX EVOKETM

DON’T MISS A SINGLE MOMENT.

Widex EVOKETM: Introducing an exciting new era of hearing aids with artificial intelligence.

So intelligent you might forget you’re wearing it.

Call to book your FREE TRIAL of the world’s FIRST truly smart hearing aid.

705-320-9244 Experience hearing anywhere:

Win a $2000* travel voucher

better service HELIX HEARING CARE Kent Place Mall - 189 Kent Street West, Suite 107, Lindsay 54 Anne Street, Unit 2, Bobcaygeon www.helixhearingcare.com

better hearing

better living

* No purchase necessary. Limit of one (1) entry per person. Call before March 31, 2019 at 9am ET to book an appointment.

Appointment must be booked by that date to be eligible. Draw date April 2, 2019. Open to legal residents of ON, NB, NS, MB, AB, BC, and SK over age of majority who qualify to try Widex EVOKE smart hearing aid. One (1) prize available to be won per province, each consisting of a travel voucher worth $2,000 CAD. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received per province. Math skill-testing question required. Full contest rules available at clinic. ** Limited time offer. Conditions apply. Select hearing aids. Not valid with any other offer or promotion.

CONTENTS 4 5 7 8 13 16 18 21 23 24 25 26 28 30

Letters to the Editor Benns’ Belief UpFront Walking through history: Lindsay in 1919 Seniors in Crisis in Kawartha Lakes Growing Hope in the New Year What Nordic Countries can Teach us Community Cares Aging GPS I Volunteer For...

Black History Month Friends & Neighbours with Jamie Morris Just in Time with Ian McKechnie Trevor’s Take

TEAM ADVOCATE: Roderick Benns, Publisher Trevor Hutchinson, Contributing Editor Joli Scheidler-Benns, Research, Writer-at-Large Ian McKechnie, Writer-at-Large, Columnist Jamie Morris, Columnist Judy Paul, Columnist Dr. Avis Glaze, Writer-at-Large Sylvia Keesmaat, Columnist Bob Polan, Marketing Coach & Consultant Erin Smith, Photographer Barton Creative Co., Graphic Design

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 or kawarthalakespublisher@gmail.com Vol 2, Issue 11, February 2019 • 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 Chamber of Commerce. Printed by Maracle Inc. Cover Photo: Summer peace parade, downtown Lindsay, 1919 Photo credit courtesy: Beall Scrapbook 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, Judy Paul, Dr. Avis Glaze, Sylvia Keesmaat Research, Strategy & Development: Joli Scheidler-Benns Marketing: Bob Polan • Graphic Design: Barton Creative Co. d The Lindsay Advocate @lindsayadvocate, Roderick Benns @roderickbenns • c /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.

DSAY A TE

LIN

Postal Banking could work for all Canadians

AD O C V

Post Envelopes story an enjoyable read Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading the article on Post Church Envelopes. We have lived in City of Kawartha Lakes for 21 years and I have so often driven past this business and wondered what its story was. It did not disappoint, we love to hear from our born and raised friends of businesses and families that have built this community. I look forward to possibly reading further articles of businesses that can fly under the radar of the general public?

- Janet McConnach

Tip your delivery person We drivers, who use our own vehicles, have to pay for gas, insurance and maintenance. The average pay for a delivery is $5, so we rely heavily on tips. Yet it seems many people do not understand this. On Dec. 24 I was spending time with my two kids when I got a call to deliver to a business. The order was over $500, feeding more than 20 people. I took my kids with me because I needed help carrying this enormous order. I told the kids I would split the tip with them. To our disbelief, we were given a $5 tip! I was thoroughly upset but I have never asked for a tip or complained of not getting one. I am polite, courteous, humorous and friendly so this one really threw me for a loop. I have been complained to from customers about the restaurant and denied a tip because of someone else’s bad behaviour. I just deliver the product and I feel if I have done this in a professional manner, then a tip is well earned. With the Basic Income Pilot going down and my severe physical pain, this seemed to be the only way I could start earning some money so I don’t end up homeless in April. So to all out there who get their food, beer, alcohol, etc. delivered directly to the comfort of their own home, don’t forget to tip your driver accordingly. We depend on it to make a living.

- Michele Davies

On behalf of over eight thousand postmasters and assistants, I would like to thank the Lindsay Advocate and Contributing Editor Trevor Hutchison for your article on restoring banking at the post office.

Postal banking is especially important for the rural and remote areas served by our members.

Postmasters who serve rural Canada’s smaller communities know all too well how ‘banking deserts’ affect our communities and their ability to thrive. Digital banking is not a magic wand for rural Canada because internet access is a huge issue for us too.

CPAA members have worked in several pilot projects over the past decades that successfully paired banking and postal counters in communities such as Nain and Port-au-Port, Newfoundland, and Moose Factory, Ontario, with large Indigenous populations. Offering financial services proved popular: the two-year pilot project in Nain was extended for 17 years.

Around the time that M-166, the motion to restore postal banking, came up for debate, CPAA members met with many Members of Parliament, including Jamie Schmale, MP for HaliburtonKawartha Lakes Brock. While Mr. Schmale asked thoughtful questions, I was disappointed to see his recorded vote on M-166, was a “Nay.” We hope that Mr. Schmale and his party can be prevailed upon to support services that would benefit his rural constituents.

We know that Canada Post, like many other postal services around the world, is looking at additional financial services.The question is what type of financial services model do we deserve?

A model that benefits the Big 5 banks or one that works for all of us?

- Brenda McAuley, National President, Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association, Ottawa (Find this article online at lindsayadvocate.ca)

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.

4 www.lindsayadvocate.ca Please keep your letters to 200 words or less.

BENNS’ BELIEF RODERICK BENNS, PUBLISHER

The limits of church, the duty of state

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” ~ Dom Helder Camara When we broke the story (online first) about many seniors in Kawartha Lakes who are falling through the cracks, some spoke up to say this would be a great project for churches to take on. We disagree entirely.

First, let me say that our churches, charities, and non-profits are run by some of the finest people one could ever meet. But it is part of the neoliberal, corporate-first mindset that has normalized the idea of charity to this degree.

The first food bank in Canada opened its doors only in 1981, supposedly a temporary response to a recession. Instead, they have proliferated across Canada as inequality has widened and ordinary Canadians have suffered.

As Iris De Roux-Smith writes in her McMaster University research paper (Food Banks, Food Drives, and Food Insecurity, 2014), “charity creates a relationship of power and dependence rather than of equality and respect.”

This ongoing branding of hunger or other social gaps in our policy as ‘normal,’ and something best left as a matter of charity, must end. Instead we must discuss its roots causes -- poverty and social inequality.

There is dignity in having employment and being able to pay one’s own way. People of a certain age will remember having a minimum wage job and being able to pay all one’s basic bills. That is no longer the case now that we have allowed corporations to call the shots. (Corporations are paying about half the tax rate they did in 1971.)

There is dignity in our Canadian policies of free health care; of the Guaranteed Income Supplement; and perhaps one day soon, a basic income.

There is dignity in the other kind of ‘basic income’ we give to millions of families – the Canada Child Benefit. There is no stigma in receiving this money in a modern, social democracy like Canada.

All of those things listed – from jobs, to protective social policies -are different than charity, which robs one of pride, no matter how wellintentioned. So we should be marginalizing the role of churches and charities, not expanding their outreach.We should do this not because they are doing bad work, but because it is the role of a modern, social democratic state like Canada – not charity – to shape the society we wish to live in.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

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

PA I N

CO M F O RT

STRAIN

D I S CO M F O RT

RELIEF

R E L A X AT I O N

LET US HELP YOU MOVE FROM RED TO BLUE. CHIROPRACTIC ACUPUCTURE P R E N ATA L WEBSTER TECHNIQUE MASSAGE THERAPY CUPPING THERAPY SPORTS INJURIES

PUT YOUR BODY IN GOOD HANDS help@adelaideclinic.ca adelaideclinic.ca | 705.320.7811 1 Adelaide St N Lindsay Direct billing is available. To learn more please visit: www.adelaideclinic.ca/direct-billing

5

D N A R IN VE EW E M CO S N CO IS T’ D HA W

YOUR GUIDE TO THE

Exceptional

We bring together remarkable resources; for discovery, exploration and entertainment; across 14 branches... creating opportunities for each branch to become Millions of Opportunities. One Exceptional Library. an experience-rich resource as unique as the people they serve.

www.KawarthaLakesLibrary.ca KLPL

KAWARTHA LAKES PUBLIC LIBRARY

KLPL

Millions of Opportunities. One Exceptional Library.

KAWARTHA LAKES PUBLIC LIBRARY

What is your

farm’s legal health?

FWOinsure

WARDLEGAL.CA

6

|

705532449273

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

UPFRONT Pie Eyed Monk

goes wild with first annual

Amanda Secord

‘OPEN SEASON’

PHOTO: ERIN SMITH

Amanda Secord finds success

BETWEEN THE BREAD

When Amanda Secord thought about the business she wanted to open, she did what any smart business owner would do – she tried to figure out what the area was missing.

“When I looked around there were not a lot of dining options for parents with young families, something I realized when I had my son,” Secord says.

She kept that in mind as she thought about the kind of dining experience that might be missing in Lindsay, too. One of her own favourites – a basic grilled cheese sandwich – was foremost in her mind. So why not gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches?

After looking at her space she realized she now had tons of seating, a play space for the kids so

their parents could get a break, and yet still had a huge empty corner to consider. So she started offering space for local artisans to sell their wares, taking only a 15 per cent consignment fee. One corner of her shop is filled with locally-made paraphernalia, like tiny wool sheep collectibles, amusing signs, beeswax crafts, mugs, wreaths, and crafts of all kinds.

Since she closes early on Saturdays and isn’t open Sunday, she can rent out her space to the community on Saturday nights and Sundays for birthday parties or other get-togethers. People can bring their own food, or Secord can cater.

Between the Bread is located at 17 William Street South in Lindsay.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

A capacity crowd gathered in mid January at Lindsay’s Pie Eyed Monk to experience the first annual ‘Open Season,’ a celebration of local wild game and other fine area foods. Working with the local Kinsmen Club, the evening was set up to be a fundraiser to purchase a service dog for someone in need in the area (which can costs many thousands of dollars). Proprietors Aaron Young and Jennifer Boksman organized topnotch chefs from around southern Ontario to create dishes like smoked Burnt River doe, sumac and cedar roasted elk, deer heart pastrami, and many other exotic flavours served in seven stages throughout the evening.

7

evious. ar the year pr end of the w lebrating the ace Parade, ce A summer Pe

Walking through history: Lindsay in 1919 IAN MCKECHNIE Imagine strolling through Lindsay’s historic boroughs 100 years ago, in 1919. What might life have been like, behind the scenes and within the businesses that once drove our economy? What thoughts and emotions coursed through the minds and hearts of local citizens? Imagination – and a little research – are powerful tools. They transpose me from the streets on which I stroll today...to the Lindsay of a century ago.

LINDSAY, MID-SPRING, 1919

Before venturing into the heart of commercial Lindsay, I pause to admire the Ross Memorial Hospital, standing proudly on a height of land adjacent to Kent and Angeline Streets. The 16-going-on-17-year-

old Ross is generously supported by the community it serves, and this support apparently extends to the new Isolation Hospital at the corner of Colborne and Angeline. “’Tis a real credit to the town!” gushes Mrs. Hungerford, president of the Lindsay Women’s Institute, whom I happen to encounter on the front lawn of the Ross, where she has just paid a visit to an institute member, currently recovering from a fall.

“The ladies of the Lindsay Women’s Institute and the West Ops Women’s Institute have poured their hearts into seeing to it that we have a comfortable, modern facility at our disposal should Lindsay ever be plagued with a disease requiring isolation,” Mrs. Hungerford tells me.

8

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

I nod in agreement, remembering that this year and last have seen record numbers of Canadians hospitalized with the dreaded influenza epidemic.

Mrs. Hungerford and I exchange a few more pleasantries, before I tip my cap and move along.

Lindsay’s citizens are clearly proud of their healthcare facilities, a pride no doubt intensified by the good work of Ross nursing graduates in Europe over the past four years.

Walking briskly in an easterly direction, I soon reach the corner of Kent Street and Victoria Avenue, where I’m held up by a passing train returning from the north country. The smoke and cinders waft over Victoria Park, where the Citizens’ Band is playing some jaunty tunes. I wait patiently, my ears taking in the strains of “Goodbye France” and “Smiles,” among other chart-toppers.

At last, the caboose rattles by and I cross the street, passing the library and reaching the busy intersection of Cambridge and Kent, where I’m just about run down by a speed demon in his new Gray Dort touring car.

“Watch where yer’ goin’!” shouts the man behind the wheel, shaking his forefinger menacingly. The machine roars off down Cambridge Street in a cloud of dust and exhaust.

“Damned drivers!” exclaims an older gentleman in a straw hat leaning up against a light-pole, having witnessed my near-tragic encounter with the Chatham, Ontario-built Gray Dort. “Them contraptions are a menace, snortin’ and rattlin’ through here. Reckon he paid $1,500 for that thing. Hope your heart isn’t racin’ after that.”

“No, sir,” I reply, with a half-smile.

Looking down Kent Street, I’m astounded at just how quickly Lindsay has progressed in her embrace of the motorcar. Parked up and down this widest of Ontario’s thoroughfares are Fords, Gray Dorts, Maxwells, and Overlands, interspersed with horses and wagons. No doubt they are bringing postwar prosperity to local dealers like R.F. Thomas’s Lindsay Motor Works – but one wonders what sort of impact this age of automotive adulation will have on the town in the years to come?

I move on. Downtown Lindsay is a bustling place on this slightly overcast day in 1919. People are

going in and out of shops, patronizing a bounty of businesses, some with pedigrees that stretch back to pre-Confederation times. I glance up at the signs mounted over the awnings which have long been in vogue for downtown businesses. Allin’s Ltd. (hardware). R. Neill Ltd. (boots and shoes). Sutcliffe & Sons (Lindsay’s answer to an urban department store).

Reaching the corner of Kent and William Streets, I duck into Edmund Gregory’s drugstore – one of the oldest apothecaries in the Dominion, I’m told.

CONT’D ON PAGE 11

Personal service, from the people you trust.

THE ONLY PHARMACY IN KAWARTHA LAKES THAT PROVIDES COMPOUNDING SERVICES, A SPECIALIZED METHOD OF MAKING MEDICINES SPECIFIC TO VARIOUS NEEDS OR ALLERGIES. CERTIFIED DIABETES EDUCATOR. 108 Kent St W, Lindsay Monday - Friday 9am to 5:30pm Saturday 9am to 1pm CATHY PUFFER

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

Ph: 705-324-0500 Fax: 705-324-6837

9

Travel Trends Heading to a warmer climate?

We are your local source for: P swimwear

P cruisewear

P accessories

P shoes + more!

101 Kent Street West • 705.878.5556 www.hamiltoncreek.ca

Proud to serve Lindsay and area for more than 160 years.

Thank you for making us a part of your family. ~Shain Fletcher and the Stoddart team

Neabor’s Family Restaurant Good News...

Neabors not so hard to find after all.

Neabor’s

All Day Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Healthy Choice Menu for Families and Children

705-324-1862 The Best Kept Secret in The City Of Kawartha Lakes!

Open 7 Days A Week • Mon-Sat 8-9pm • Sun 8-8pm 401 Kent St. Lindsay Square Mall, Rear Entrance

“Your Clothes’ Best Friend” • Dry Cleaning done on premise • Laundromat staff always available • Wash and fold service • Alterations / tailoring on premise • Mat rentals • Household items: area rugs (even your boat and trailers), drapes, bedding, linens and pillows

• Commercial laundry for resorts, motels and restaurants • Leathers, suedes, boots, shoes, hats and fur cleaning • Fur and cloth storage in a temperature controlled vault • We can clean even: mooring and car covers, camping gear and sleeping bags

Even Santa brings his suits to us!

24 MILL STREET, LINDSAY

705-324-3205 stoddartfuneralhome.com

211 Kent St. W. Lindsay

705-324-2166

10

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

Reaching the corner of Kent and William Streets, I duck into Edmund Gregory’s drugstore – one of the oldest apothecaries in the Dominion, I’m told. But I’m not looking for a cure to any ailment. Gregory’s is the local distributor for Kodak camera and film supplies, and I’m keen to capture what I can of Lindsay as it appears in 1919. I change my mind, however, when I realize that I will have to wait for my pictures to be developed – even though Mr. Gregory promises that he can have them developed and printed quickly.

The place smells of coffee, hot beef sandwiches, and French toast. ‘All you can eat for 20 cents,’ a colourful sign mounted on the counter proclaims.

I make my way over to a table at the back, take off my coat, and order a cup of tea.

Being so used to uploading pictures on to social media platforms at once, I bristle inwardly at the suggestion that I can “come back in two weeks” to see my prints.

Instead, I politely thank Mr. Gregory, purchase a bottle of Coca-Cola, hastily drink its saccharine contents, and head back outside, anxious to continue my journey. The world I come from, a world of instant news, instant coffee, and Instagram is increasingly incompatible with the good old-fashioned virtue of patience.

Though I could easily spend many an hour admiring the streetscape that has made Lindsay known far and wide across Ontario, I want to meet some of the local folks who make their homes and livelihoods here.

They, after all, are what give life and meaning to bricks-and-mortar.

I glance across the street and see a sign for the Big 20 Café, which, I’m told, has recently been remodelled and refitted. I glance at my watch.

It’s 12:22 pm.The height of lunchtime.There must be a good crowd in there now. I stroll across Kent Street and hasten over to the Big 20. A man is peddling for coins out front and I toss him a dollar on my way in.

The place smells of coffee, hot beef sandwiches, and French toast.

‘All you can eat for 20 cents,’ a colourful sign mounted on the counter proclaims. I make my way over to a table at the back, take off my coat, and order a cup of tea. My ears perk up as I listen to conversations

COMMERCIAL CLEANING Office Cleaning Storefront Window Cleaning Floor Refinishing Tile & Grout Cleaning Residential Cleaning ■

Licensed Insured & WSIB covered

Proudly Serving Kawartha Lakes & Peterborough

705-341-3682 www.riverrosecleaning.ca

CONT’D ON PAGE 12

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

11

emanating from the tables around me. Folks are talking about who has recently come home from the war last year and who hasn’t. Others are having lively debates about prohibition, the problems facing rural schools, and the state of Lindsay’s roads – most of which are still awaiting asphalt.

Not too far away, at one of the ladies’ tables, two young women are engaged in earnest conversation about the current state of employment.

“It’s an outrage, Hazel!” exclaims one. “We proved in working at the arsenal that a woman can run machinery just as well as a man, and now that the war’s over, we’re being told that it’s our ‘patriotic duty’ to turn our jobs over to the chaps returnin’ from the war.” “‘Patriotic duty my foot!’” replies the other, indignantly poking a fork at her raisin pie. “I’d rather be turnin’ out a product than turnin’ in my badge just because conditions have returned to normal.”

“Ah, but they haven’t Hazel,” returns the other.

“The new normal will see us girls take our places in the world of commerce and industry in a way that this town, this country, this Empire has never seen before.

As soon as we finish here, we’re going to march over to Mr. Horn’s woollen mill and see if he can’t take us on. Belgium and Romania need Canada’s wool, and Alex Horn needs us!”

Their voices drop to a whisper, and I glance at the menu in front of me, all the while casting glances about the restaurant. The folks behind the counter are beaming, no doubt enthralled with the news that the Canada Food Board recently lifted restrictions placed on restaurants during the war. But other faces betray a hint of anxiety about the future. Their world, like the one I’ve come from a century later, remains fragile and uncertain.

A piping hot cup of tea is placed before me.

I take a sip, the steam fogging up my glasses, clouding out this vignette of Lindsay in 1919...

It’s hard for us today to imagine what life was like a century ago in Lindsay, Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Kinmount, Omemee, and other fine communities across Kawartha Lakes. Technology has forever changed our lives, food prices have gone up dramatically, and the traditional industries which kept these communities afloat for over 100 years have shuffled off their mortal coils as global economies and consumer tastes change like the weather.

And yet, much remains the same. Like Mrs. Hungerford and the Lindsay Women’s Institute, we take pride in our healthcare facilities. Local pharmacists carry on the tradition of courteous, personal service that once defined establishments like Edmund Gregory’s drugstore.

And like the Big 20 of gastronomical memory, our restaurants remain popular gathering spots to converse at lunchtime – to live and laugh among our family, friends and neighbours.

In the end, as ordinary Canadians, we carry forward as best we can, in all the ways we can, and trust that we will be rewarded with lives worth living.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

SENIORS IN CRISIS

IN KAWARTHA LAKES:

‘These are not seniors who are asking for help’

RODERICK BENNS He’s got a makeshift woodstove in a dilapidated trailer outside of town. She’s hoarding junk and debris -- so much in fact that the doors to her home no longer open and parts of her floor are sagging.

Another man burns flammable liquids to stay warm during the cold clutch of winter. In her postcardperfect home, another woman constantly calls police to investigate phantom intruders.

This is but a snapshot of a growing number of seniors who are in danger in our community. They’re all over age 60 and most have lost at least some of their cognitive abilities. These are men and women who are not necessarily defined by poverty or rural postal codes. In fact, many of them live in nice homes in Lindsay or elsewhere in Kawartha Lakes and may be quite well off.

But they are all defined by one thing – that there isn’t any program or service in Kawartha Lakes set up to help them, a weakness in in the social fabric of our City.

In nearby Haliburton, Muskoka, or Northumberland County, programs and policies have been set up to help in cases like this.

“The absolute vulnerability of these people in a wealthy, western nation like Canada where social services are in place is shocking,” says Bella Alderton, program director for Women’s Resources.

Shocking, but true. Scores of seniors with some level of cognitive impairment across Kawartha Lakes are at risk of grave injury or death because there are no services for people like them. Their situations are

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

CONT’D ON PAGE 14

13

also generally characterized by a lack of connectedness to family or community. More than a third of the City of Kawartha Lakes’ population are 60 or over, according to 2016 Statistics Canada numbers.

“Their situations are also generally characterized by a lack of connectedness to family or community.”

In some cases family members have tried to help but have failed, due to the ongoing effort that is required with people who have dementia or some kind of cognitive challenge. In other cases the person is estranged from family or simply has no relatives to draw support from.

“These are not seniors who are asking for help,” says Sheila Carron, a mental health nurse at Ross Memorial Hospital, and that’s the fundamental challenge. If they are not asking for help due to underlying conditions like dementia, then they are falling through the cracks of the system.

For instance, the hospital can only help if there is an immediate medical condition. If a senior obviously needs ongoing medical attention on a regular basis, or needs help with day-to-day things like banking and prescription filling, then acute care is not the place for that senior.

Long-term care and retirement homes are not the solution. As well, these homes can refuse admission to people even if they only have a single issue – such as wandering tendencies.

The Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) can give a senior a certain amount of time for postoperative care, “but if you need to help to get to the doctor, to fill out paperwork, do some banking,” or other important tasks, there’s no one to step in, says Carron.

“There are counties that have better services in these cases,” says Alderton, “if there is not a responsible adult in that person’s life.”

Carron also works with Sergeant Dave Murtha of the Kawartha Lakes Police Service two days a week for the Community Response Unit. (She also works with the OPP in this capacity.) This is a partnership between the police services and Ross Memorial Hospital to help those who are frequently ending up in the hospital or the justice system.

The response unit saw 71 cases in 2017 of seniors (60 and over) who were in crisis of some kind.

That number jumped to 77 seniors in 2018 – and that’s just up until Oct. 1.

Murtha says over the last year an increasing number of calls for officers are checks on the wellbeing of seniors, such as the ones described above.

Often the call comes from a neighbour who notices “unusual behaviour,” Murtha says.

The sergeant says there were five calls for police service in six months for the same person in this CONT’D ON PAGE 15

Free service. Available 24/7.

FOUR

COUNTY CRISIS

Community Mental Health Crisis Response Program

705-745-6484 • 1-866-995-9933 Fax: 705-745-5519

14

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

past year. Two years ago one senior elicited 21 calls for service.

“Some people are living in dire straits, with no heat, no hydro, or no water,” says Murtha.

“This is a very vulnerable group of people who are falling through the cracks.”

The partnership between the police and Ross Memorial Hospital also aims to bring issues forward to something called the ‘situation table.’ It’s a group that meets bi-weekly, with representatives from various agencies involved, such as police, health, mental health, education, Children’s Aid Society and housing.

It was through the response unit and the situation table that this gap in services for seniors was first noticed.

“Some people are living in dire straits, with no heat, no hydro, or no water,” says Murtha.

Successful Practices Other counties have found ways to help in these situations. For instance, in Haliburton, Alderton says they use their EMS service to check on a roster of

certain seniors who have been identified as needing more supports, when paramedics aren’t busy on calls.

In Northumberland County, at the Help Centre, there are case workers who develop relationships with a roster of seniors who would be in trouble without some supports. They do everything from free income tax services to taking the senior to his or her doctor’s appointment.

That’s why Alderton and Carron have spearheaded a ‘working group for gaps in senior services,’ serving as co-chairs. It involves their two institutions – Women’s Resources and Ross Memorial Hospital – but also Community Care, Kawartha Lakes Police Services, OPP, A Place Called Home, Elder Abuse, and a local capacity assessor.

They don’t want to reinvent the wheel and are actively looking at successful practices in other communities, both locally and across Canada.

This includes a model in Edmonton and another in Toronto.

“But we need the powers that be to step forward,” says Alderton. “We want a meeting with the mayor…and with (local MPP) Laurie Scott.”

“We’re going to need funding,” Carron adds, in order to be successful in addressing these gaps in services.

One of the issues is having safe beds available for seniors, specifically, which are typically relief beds in retirement homes, according to other communities’ models.

Alderton says they also want to do broad spectrum education about these issues, perhaps with a central phone line for people to call in if they notice a senior in possible distress or in a dangerous environment.

The working group is holding an open meeting Feb. 14 from 1-4 pm at Cambridge Street United Church.

“We want as many people there as possible who can help,” Alderton says. Anyone who feels they can add to this conversation is welcome.

If you wish to attend the meeting, simply email mhru@rmh.org to register your interest.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

15

GROWING HOPE in the New Year S Y L V I A K E E S M A AT Planting seeds, growing something, whether it be a plant on the windowsill, or a small garden in a container on your balcony or porch, or a plot at the community garden, creates bonds of affection between ourselves and the earth. And such bonds, I suggest, are crucial if we are to have hope for our future. If we love someone, we are willing to go to great lengths on their behalf; if we love the natural world, working to preserve it will not be a burden but a labour of love.

So how do we engage in this kind of hope deep into a Kawartha Lakes winter, when all is frozen? I suggest that you start with a seed catalogue and a dream. Many flowers and plants can be started inside for summer transplanting outside, but a few can be started inside and grown until they are edible.

It may be that you are unable to grow where you live. If so, find a friend who gardens and offer to assist them. And know this: that where there are seeds and people who know how to nurture and grow them, there is hope. For the earth and for us.

Terra Edibles Seeds for heirloom vegetables (over 100 varieties of tomatoes), herbs & flowers ~ organically-grown since 1993.

Order by mail or online at www.terraedibles.ca Retail at the Village Green: www.thevillagegreen.ca 535 Ashley St, Box 164, Foxboro, Ontario K0K 2B0 Free catalogue: 613-961-0654, karyn@terraedibles.ca

H E R E A R E S O M E S U I TA B L E S E E D S A N D T I P S F O R G E T T I N G S TA RT E D : 1. Home Hardware has plastic pots that will fit on the windowsill as well as larger pots that you can put on the floor (don’t forget to get a tray to catch water underneath if one isn’t included).You can also get a potting soil there to put in your pots.

2. Organic seeds can be ordered from a number of Ontario seed houses. These seeds are locally grown and suited to our climate (in case you sow some outside). I recommend: Mountain Grove Seeds (mountaingroveseedcompany.com), Terra Edibles (terraedibles.ca), Hawthorn Farm (hawthornfarm.ca), or Greta’s Organic Gardens (seeds-organic.com). Home Hardware and Joanne’s Health Foods will also soon have seeds available in the store.

3. The seed packets will have growing instructions.

The best vegetables to grow inside are greens that you can harvest at the baby leaf stage: lettuce, spinach, kale, collards. If you plant densely and harvest with scissors or a knife leaving one inch high of growth, they will regrow for subsequent harvests.

4. If you have a very sunny window, and some space, you could grow a tomato, pepper or cucumber plant to maturity in a five gallon pail and harvest the fruit!

5. If you have a balcony, you can start tomatoes and peppers indoors in small containers on a sunny windowsill, and then plant out into five gallon pails to grow during the summer. Onions, carrots, lettuce, spinach, kale, and peas can all be sown directly outside in a container as soon as the snow is gone. Beans, cucumbers and squash need to wait until after the last frost. Most of these need a minimum of six hours of sunlight to bear fruit. However, leafy greens like lettuce, kale, chard and spinach will grow even if they are in the shade. Sowing times are similar for gardens in the ground.

16

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

THE POST COLLECTION 50% OFF DESK, CONSOLE, COFFEE TABLE AND END TABLES

3X5, 5X8, 7X10, 8X11, 9X12, AND CUSTOM 27” RUNNERS STARTING AT $159.99 (5X8)

SPECIALTY TEAS & TEA ACCESSORIES

CAT

SPECIALTY TEAS & TEA ACCESSORIES

CAT

148 Kent Street W, Lindsay, ON K9V 2Y4 705-878-8884

It’s the place to meet!

FAIR TRADE AND ORGANIC COFFEES 148 Kent Street W, Lindsay, ON K9V 2Y4 705-878-8884

It’s the place to meet!

FAIR TRADE AND ORGANIC COFFEES

IT’S THE PLACE TO MEET! Come enjoy our unique blends of coffee, micro-roasted locally & specifically for us. Add a freshly baked muffin, cookie, pastry or a light lunch in the comfy atmosphere at our downtown Lindsay location to make your day even better!

Local Biz Buzz!

Local Business Marketing Guide

How to Get Online Traffic to Come enjoy our unique blends of coffee that are m your Business on the Street! locally and specifically for BOCV. Add a freshly ba And build a customer list you can reach cookie, pastry or a light lunch in the comfy atmosp out to at the click of a mouse! downtown Lindsay location to make your day even

WE CATER! - talk to our staff about catering your n FivestarReputation meeting or gathering!

Come enjoy our unique blends of coffee that are m OPEN -Marketing.ca/oto/ 7:30 am - 9:00 pm; (SUNDAY 9:00 am locally and specifically for BOCV. Add a freshly ba cookie, pastry or a light lunch in the comfy atmosp My business is helping you build yours.

1 905 954 5622 or Skype me @ robert_polan downtown Lindsay location to make your day even

WE CATER! - talk to our staff about catering your n www.lindsayadvocate.ca

17 meeting or gathering!

OPEN - 7:30 am - 9:00 pm; (SUNDAY - 9:00 am

READER SPOTLIGHT Courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Public Library

Deputy Mayor Doug Elmslie

“I’m reading Peter Robinson’s latest offering, Careless Love, a great read for a cold night, with a glass of wine and a cozy room. It is the latest Inspector Alan Banks mystery with the familiar cast and a page-turning plot. Robinson, a Canadian, writes about a rural English Police Force, and besides the mayhem, paints vivid word pictures of the people, towns, and scenery. I really like this book.”

Be A Friendly Visitor Community Care is currently recruiting volunteers to be Friendly Visitors, who have some time to keep in touch with clients through regular home visits or telephone calls. Friendly Visitor volunteers are carefully matched, screened and trained for their service. The program provides much-needed social contact and a check on individuals’ safety and wellbeing.

Call us to find out how to become a Friendly Visitor!

With offices in Lindsay, Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls.

705.324.7323 • www.ccckl.ca Caring for the Communities of Kawartha Lakes

What the Nordic Countries can TEACH US JUDY PAUL

Walking the ancient Camino de Santiago, a large network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe, I met a fellow pilgrim named Uho, a Finnish man. It was late afternoon in the sunny courtyard of our hostel and I watched Uho plunge his feet into a bucket of cold water to revive his sore and tired muscles. Wanting to strike up a conversation, and having read about the high level of equality in Finland, I asked Uho if life was good there. He replied that it was, but many Finns only appreciated their situation when they returned home after travelling outside of Finland.

We have to ask ourselves, who are we looking to for policy direction?

Is it the United States and the dead American dream?

Or do we look to the Nordic Countries?

How is it that a group of small northern European countries – Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland – can provide such a high quality of life while at the same time thriving economically? The newly elected Conservative provincial government here in Ontario would have us believe that we cannot have both, that in order to stimulate the economy we need to cut programs that serve a social, cultural or environmental purpose. I don’t buy it. Policy decisions are determined by values and reflect priorities. We have to ask ourselves, who are we looking to for policy direction? Is it the United States and the dead American dream? Or do we look to the Nordic Countries?

Ed Miliband, the leader of the British Labour Party commented at a conference on social mobility, “If you want the American dream, go to Finland.”

In many happiness studies the Nordic countries share the top scores. ‘Happiness’ however may not be the most accurate term. In Why the Finns Don’t Want to be Happy, a high quality of life includes the

18

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

usual indicators of life expectancy and GDP per capita. However, Finns also list the ability to look after each other, freedom to make life decisions knowing that there is a strong level of support, along with high levels of trust and generosity. Because the Nordic countries have greater equality, they are better able to care for those who may be disadvantaged. It turns out that immigrants there feel the same high levels of happiness, i.e., trust in strangers, generosity, etc.

University of British Columbia Professor John Helliwell, co-editor of the World Happiness Report, states: “Looking at immigrants’ happiness shatters the idea that Nordic countries are closed, homogeneous societies. If happiness is to do with something in the Finnish psyche, it’s equally available to someone from Bangladesh.

So it’s got to be more about the way the country is run.”

I suspected as much. We need a serious consideration of Nordic policies despite the differences between us and Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland or Iceland.

In The Nordic Theory of Everything, the author argues that Finland is not a ‘nanny’ state, where the government coddles its citizens. Nordic nations choose policies that maximize independence, freedom and opportunity for every member of society.

But what about those rumours of really high taxes? Partanen reveals that her municipal and national taxes amounted to 30.6 per cent of her taxable income. In return, she received or was eligible for, comprehensive health insurance, a full year of partially paid disability leave, up to three years of parental leave, affordable high-quality day care, one of the world’s best education systems, free post secondary education, elder care, and social security programs when needed.

Rather than an austere life, Partenan enjoyed a comfortable middle class existence with enough disposable income after taxes to eat out, travel, enjoy herself and set aside savings every year.

Reykjavik, capital of Iceland.

Not everything is perfect in the Nordic countries as many skeptics like to point out.They have, however, created high levels of well-being and a prosperity that will enable them to meet the challenges of the 21st century. There is a lot we could learn from their successes.

STEWART MORRISON INSURANCE

OVER 30 YEARS OF SERVICE

Stewart Morrison, the founder of Stewart Morrison Insurance, was known to be a farmer first; he believed in hard work, long hours and making time to have a little fun. He began the business part time from his home and expanded as an independent agent opening an office in Sunderland and then Woodville. He believed his customers deserved the best, and taught this foundation of service to his daughter Marlene Morrison Nicholls, who joined the company in 1976. They eventually opened what became their head office in Lindsay over 30 years ago and Marlene, together with her husband Ken Nicholls, have continued to build a strong business, providing careers to many in a dedicated diverse business culture.

Giving back is at the heart of this brokerage and their commitment to the communities we serve is something Marlene isvery proud of.

SMI sponsored and attended over 50 events just this year, with staff support at all times.

Marlene has built a strong team of professional brokers ready to serve the communities that they work and live in. With offices in Lindsay, Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon, Port Perry and Peterborough they are positioned well for a great future.

Marlene Morrison Nicholls is the president of Stewart Morrison Insurance.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

19

The premier employment service agency and resource centre in the City of Kawartha Lakes and surrounding area.

Looking for Work? Looking to Hire?

We have you covered.

Employment Counselling and Job Search Assistance Free Job Postings • Apprenticeships Free Job Fairs or employer presentations Employer Recruitment Support Mentoring Opportunities • Retraining Programs

370 Kent Street West • Whitney Town Centre Lindsay • www.vccs.work Telephone: (705) 328-0180 • Toll Free: 1-855–825–0180

NATURE NOTES WITH SUZANNE ALDEN

Grey & Algonquin Wolves

Marquee Event Raffle

Barcelona / Madrid Spain Round Trip from Toronto for 2 Via Air Transat & Kawartha Lakes Travel Plus

VALUE $5,000 PLUS $1,000 SPENDING MONEY Accommodation for 8 nights; 8 meals; Transfers; Train; and Taxes

Draw Date: March 9, 2019 featured performer Serena Ryder

Tickets: $10 each or 3 for $20. Only 4,500 Tickets Printed.

To purchase tickets, contact Women’s Resources, 22 Russell St. E., Lindsay 705-878-4285, www.womensresources.ca or contact Carolyn Fox 705-324-7649 Ext 223, cfox@womensresources.ca

Find Your Voice Gain Confidence Toastmasters Weekly Meetings Tuesday nights

Ontario is home to Grey and Algonquin (formerly “Eastern”) wolves. There are sightings of Algonquin wolves in Kawartha Lakes whereas Grey wolves are found much further north. Generally only one pair will mate and give birth within a pack, but the whole pack takes part in raising the pups. They are incredibly social, with a very strong sense of family.

20

6:45 - 9PM • Central Senior School Library For more information contact

Steve Green: stgreen0361@gmail.com

Call: 705-887-4936

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

COMMUNITY CARE’S transportation services keeps older adults moving MIKE PUFFER In the City of Kawartha Lakes, the Community Care Health & Care Network’s transportation services provide thousands of rides each year to older adults and people with special needs, including those with physical disabilities.

Transportation is provided to medical appointments, treatments, community services, shopping and social/recreation activities. Clients say that the transportation services help them remain independent and connected with the community. Services include rides by volunteer drivers, wheelchair accessible transportation and non-emergency transfers.

Community Care’s specialized transportation service offers personal, hands-on assistance to clients riding in wheelchair accessible vans and vans modified to carry stretchers on a non-emergency basis. The team of more than 20 staff drivers provides close to 12,000 rides a year in a fleet of nine accessible vehicles and several non-modified vans. Individuals with wheelchairs, those requiring non-emergency stretcher transfers or additional attendant service due to frailty are the main clients receiving transportation at an affordable cost to medical appointments, discharges from hospital and rides for social events, community-based activities and shopping.

The service Community Care provides for non-emergency interhospital transfers and discharges from hospitals takes pressure off local paramedic services, which in turn frees up ambulances to respond to emergencies originating through the 911 system. The service also provides on-call availability to Ross Memorial Hospital to allow timely discharges.

This also saves the health care system costs, as ambulances are not needed for discharges.

The program is also a benefit to residents of local retirement and nursing homes to provide vital transportation at a reasonable cost.

In addition to Specialized Transportation program, hundreds of dedicated Community Care volunteers use their own vehicles to transport clients.

A per kilometre or flat rate reimbursement for drivers’ out-of-pocket expenses such as fuel, insurance, and vehicle maintenance is paid by the client or client coverage. Volunteer drivers do not receive payment for their time – this is their generous gift to the community.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

ALL YOUR FAVOURITES ALL DAY LONG

$5.99 Breakfast Special

2 eggs, bacon/ham or sausage. Toast and hashbrowns or pancakes & bottomless gourmet coffee. Week Days 7-11am, Week Ends 7-10am

HOME OF THE ALL DAY BREAKFAST

Fish Fridays All you can eat Fish & Chips

$11.99

Kids Eat Free!

Purchase amount of $13.99 One meal from our “under 10” menu per each adult entree.

Every day after4pm Ask server for details

21

HERE’S MY CARD

ART • VINYL RECORDS • FURNITURE • WOODEN CRATES

We’ve got sweet deals for your Sweetheart !

SEE IT – LOVE IT – TAKE IT HOME SHOP LOCALLY

JEWELLLERY • CHINA • GLASSWARE • STAINED GLASS 104 LINDSAY STREET SOUTH, LINDSAY

Residential & Commercial Drawings

Michele Kennedy BCIN certified 705-341-1948

info@kenwooddrafting.ca www.kenwooddrafting.ca

Yoga Classes Teacher Training Meditation PRESENT MOMENT. STILLNESS. PEACE.

705 341 2758

Four Directions Yoga Studio

8 Cambridge Street South Unit 3, Lindsay, ON K9V 3B6

(705) 320-9990

55 Farms Rd., Woodville www.fourdirectionsyoga.com

COUNTRY SAMPLER BUY & SELL

Open Daily 10am - 5pm 954 Hwy #7, Oakwood

705-953-9855 find us on facebook

INFO@COUNTRYSAMPLERANTIQUES.COM www.countrysamplerantiques.com

Full-service auto repair and maintenance

705-328-1954

103 McLaughlin Rd., Lindsay, ON K9V 6K5

TOP 5 REASONS TO MAKE YOUR OWN WINE 1. INEXPENSIVE. Graham Bashford

Aging GPS

aims to chart a course for senior wellness In his 1970 essay, Robert Greenleaf coined the phrase ‘servant leadership.’ “A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong,� as Greenleaf wrote.

It’s there where we find Lindsay’s Graham Bashford. Bashford is the owner of Castle Keep Retirement, where the goal is the provision of care while aging in place at home, whether that’s personal care through a personal support worker, or other kinds of help like companionship and yard maintenance. Now, Bashford is launching another, complimentary business called Aging GPS. Aging GPS is all about helping families navigate the complex system of health care in Ontario. Bashford provides solutions for seniors and families who are looking for aging options in the Kawartha’s. The one-stop-shop approach to education and organization of available services, both public and private, eliminates the arduous task of navigating the system yourself.

Bashford offers three levels of service: A one time family consultation, help in planning a downsizing, or a monthly retainer service to be available through all the roadblocks to provide expert solutions. Call 705-328-4170 or visit aginggps.com to learn more.

When you make your own wine it’s a lot cheaper than getting it at the LCBO. After upfront one-time costs like bottles, it only costs between $4 and $7 a bottle.

2. EASY.

You get great guidance throughout the process.

With a little patience you’ll be enjoying the ‘fruit’ of your own labours.

3. ENOUGH TO SHARE.

Making your own batch generally yields 30 bottles – more than enough to share with friends.

Village Winery The Kawartha Lakes Original Winery

of Top Quality Wines ke you I’d love to ta ffee co r out fo this week.

You win spelle ew ron d g.

4. ECO-FRIENDLY.

Instead of tossing or recycling your bottles you can use them for your next batch. Reusing is great for the environment and they clean easily with soap and water. Your wine-making partner can help with that.

5. TASTES GREAT.

Today’s make your own wines are incredibly delicious – and many would say better for you. That’s because there are less preservatives per bottle than ones bought at the LCBO.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

15 Cambridge St. S. Lindsay, ON

705-328-9463 village-winery.com Tues-Fri 9:00AM - 5:00PM Saturday 9:00AM - 1:00PM or by appointment

23

WE VOLUNTEER FOR...

Machik Peter and Kathy Anderson PHOTO: ERIN SMITH The organization called Machik was founded by Lindsay’s own Rabgey family. We have been committed volunteers since 2002 when annual fundraising dinners helped to build a self-sustaining, award-winning school in a remote valley in Tibet. The money raised in Lindsay continues to support the work of young Tibetan innovators and community leaders. Our personal involvement with this organization has broadened our world view and we stand in awe at the impact Machik has had on the lives of many.

Auction Barn Services

Farm • Estate • Business Closures Phone or Fax: 705-786-2183

Bricks and Mortar will not a home make! But it’s a start.

Let’s take the time needed to find the right home for you.

For retirees there’s a wide variety of homes just right for you.

A home here is still affordable and for sure you’d be welcome.

Best Raymond

1241 Salem Rd. Little Britain, ON K0M 2C0

info@corneilauctions.com www.corneilauctions.com

24

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

February is Black History Month:

Why it still matters D R . AV I S G L A Z E

The study of history is a revelation of the entire human experience, helping us to make connections between the past and present, and providing us with guidance for the future based on the lessons we have learned.

Marcus Garvey, one of the thinkers I studied as a child growing up in Jamaica, said that a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture

Viola Desmond, who is now on our $10 bill, refused to leave a whites-only area of a movie theatre in 1946.

is like a tree without roots. In a similar vein, on the other side of the Atlantic, in a 1948 speech to the British House of Commons, Winston Churchill said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

As a Canadian educator, I think it is important that all children know about their ancestors -- their history, struggles and accomplishments. I think of black

children and the need for us to support them so that they do not see themselves as victims as presented in many history books – but that they know about the resilience and the indomitable spirit of those who have gone before. So many of these young people in society today are crying out for empathy and support as they navigate the challenging situations in which many find themselves.

Education that is rooted in truth telling reminds us that racial issues are not rooted solely in the past.

They persist. History tells the tale of what has come before us, the advances humanity has made with respect to attitudes towards race and other human rights issues. It reminds us that injustices remain in the form of the negative stereotypes and assumptions that prevent many people from realizing their full potential. Through education, the study of the history of the black experience connects all young people as they learn with and from one another to be solution finders in an increasingly diverse world.

The saying “children are the only substance from which a responsible adult can be made” comes to mind. As we celebrate Black History Month, let us all, in the true spirit of what it means to be Canadian, continue to remove barriers to opportunity, ensuring that all our children receive the best possible education -- one that enables them to take their rightful place in our society as empathetic and productive citizens.

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

Dr. Avis Glaze is an International Education Adviser, former CEO and Chief Student Achievement Officer for Ontario, and founder and CEO of Eduquest International. She served as the Director of Education for the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

25

Reg Learn and the ribbons of steel

Railway operations specialist and his lifetime focus on train safety FRIENDS & NEIGHBOURS WITH JAMIE MORRIS How to even begin to do justice in a couple of pages to a distinguished career that spans close to 70 years? Reg Learn’s curriculum vitae alone runs to five densely-packed pages.

But let’s begin with that C.V. and his career arc.

Reg trained as a locomotive engineer, starting in the steam era, but going on to operate electric, diesel electric, turbo and Bombardier LRC (light, rapid, comfortable) engines. In 1967 he entered railway management, moving steadily upwards, and 20 years later transferred to federal service with the Railway Transport Committee as Chief of Operations, Ontario District.

In 1990 a significant shift: he took on the position of Superintendent of Investigations for the newly proclaimed Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB). Safe rail operations has been his focus ever since. When he retired from the TSB he became an associate with Forensic Engineering Inc. in Burlington, providing litigation support in railway incident related court cases.

Don’t let the talk of “investigations,” “incidents,” and “forensic engineering” throw you off. Reg’s job has been to determine causes of what are sometimes harrowing crashes. As senior investigator he’s attended many major derailments, some requiring evacuation of areas. (In such situations railways try to establish a central on-site command post to ensure clear communication and direction.)

In addition, Reg has contributed to numerous reports, coordinated studies, chaired formal hearings, testified before a Parliamentary Review Commission, and frequently attended court, coroner inquests, and public hearings.

Throughout his career he continually upgraded his qualifications. Entering management, he completed

a two-year business administration program at the University of Toronto and additional course work at York.

To equip himself for investigations he’s taken courses on everything from tank car safety, transportation of hazardous goods, and track train dynamics, to human factors in investigation (which included topics such as sleep disorders and circadian rhythms). Some of these were at the U.S. Transportation Test Centre in Colorado; others were at the Government of Canada training facility in Cornwall.

So, that C.V. documents an impressive career, but let’s take a different approach now. Join me as I join him at his home in Lindsay to hear about a few scenes from his work-life.

After introducing me to his wife, Jean (who was born on a farm in Little Britain and worked for many years in banking at what was then Victoria and Grey Trust), Reg leads me down to what he calls his “sanctuary.”

26

Reg Learn

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

On one wall are certificates and photos, including one of a helipad.

Another wall is dominated by a black and white photo of an immense locomotive, CN 4100, a ‘pilot’ engine employed to provide additional horsepower to assist tonnage freights up steep ascending grades.

Reg settles in by a large desk. He has white hair and a white moustache.

The eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses have -- you need to experience this -- a laser-like focus. When he listens, his full attention is trained on you.

When he talks he chooses his words with precision.

Scene One:

June 17, 1950. Reg, not yet 18, and in the midst of mid-June finals at Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School is interviewed by a CN master mechanic and a motive power supervisor. He’s then sent to Toronto for a medical and interview followed by an unpaid three weeks completing several trial (or familiarization) trips.

A math exam is left unfinished as he officially enters “motive power service” and begins the process of three years of mechanical examination and railway operating rules to gain certification as a locomotive engineer.

Three years ago, at 83, Reg completes the high school math course he’d skipped opting to begin his working career for Canadian National Railways.

He’s not one to leave matters unfinished.

Scene Two:

At 5:01 am on July 31, 1991 a sleeper car, lounge car and four coaches of the Silver Star, a northbound Amtrak train derail near Camden, South Carolina. The Washington Post reports, “So forceful was the impact of the train on the freight cars that the stainless steel was ripped off the frames of three of the six passenger cars.” Eight die and 76 are injured.

A short time later Reg’s director of investigation in Ottawa called to request he catch the next flight to Charlotte, where they would meet, rent a vehicle, and drive to the accident site.

Reg describes their late-night arrival:

“State Troopers in rain-slickers, the barrels of their shotguns visible, were at the road-blocks set up at the crossing. Here we were in raincoats and hardhats displaying Canadian flags, armed with flashlights. We were escorted to the site and left there.”

They began by walking the perimeter. At the track switch Reg found a broken-off piece of disk plate. They went through the coaches, witnessing the devastation, then Reg levered himself under the derailed cars. His flashlight picked out a disk plate with a missing piece. What he’d found earlier fit like a jigsaw.

It would prove to be a key piece of evidence in determining the sequence of events in the derailment.

A final note:

It’s reassuring to know that, asked how often he’d not been able to determine the cause of an incident, he answered dryly, “Not to date.”

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

Stewart Morrison The man behind our name.

Our legacy is 60 years of superior local service.

158 Lindsay Street South Lindsay, Ontario 705.324.6681 stewartmorrison.ca

27

justINTIME

with IAN MCKECHNIE

‘Tell me the same old story?’

Re-evaluating our heritage

February 18th - 24th is Heritage Week in Ontario. Since 1974, the third Monday of February has been identified as Heritage Day at the federal level; the subsequent six days were given Heritage Week status in 1985 by the provincial government.

Heritage Day, as the Ontario Heritage Trust explains it, “provides a wonderful opportunity for individuals and communities to reflect on their contributions to Ontario, how heritage is conserved, promoted and commemorated, and how they might shape the future.”

In the last few years, however, the very question of “our heritage” has been sharply debated within public discussion. Nowhere has this been manifested more starkly than in the ongoing debate about how historical figures are commemorated – a point to which Advocate publisher Roderick Benns alluded in last month’s editorial about Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister.

Controversy inevitably accompanies any suggestion that a statue be carted away from a park or that a plaque be exorcised from an architectural edifice. The faces whom history has chosen to memorialize, we are told, consciously condoned efforts to systemically oppress peoples of creeds and cultures other than their own, and reconciliation is a meaningless exercise if we continue to subconsciously venerate their darker legacies every time we look up at a statue. To this, a loud chorus of voices will respond with a clarion call of their own: “They’re

erasing our heritage!”

Sometimes, a compromise is reached, and a suggestion will be made to put the monument away in a museum – “where it belongs,” as a Métis professor commented during one such debate last summer about the place of Macdonald’s likeness in Regina.

The problem with such a concession is that it implies that museums are somehow “less public” than a park or city square where these monuments have traditionally been placed, and therefore less visible, and therefore perhaps less at risk for inviting controversy. But that ignores the fundamental role museums play across Canada. Museums are public places.Their collections are visible. And, sometimes, they do attract controversy.

This raises all kinds of questions about the role of museums – including those here in the City of Kawartha Lakes. Are they simply depositories, places to take unwanted items of historical interest, or are they something more?

Some 60 years ago, a letter signed by my maternal great-grandfather, Dan McQuarrie (1887-1970), and the late Berle Coulter, was circulated among local residents.

Great-Grandpa was the founding president of the thennewly established Victoria County Historical Society, with Miss Coulter serving as secretary. Among other things, the letter invites its readers “... to act as our ambassadors in the community, and advise your friends that we are trying to conserve the relics of the past for future generations.” The new museum, leasing the thenrecently abandoned C.P.R. station on Caroline Street,

28

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

was “...open every day from 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. to receive articles of historical value that may be contributed or loaned.�

Alas, that 60 year-old open invitation, one shared by many museums in the 1950s and 1960s, to “receive articles of historical value� has meant that museums across Ontario are now saddled with massive collections of somewhat arbitrarily accumulated objects that however beautiful, old, or popular among collectors of “Canadiana� may fail to advance a community’s self understanding – always a priority for any museum. With good reason, then, did many museums begin to adhere to well-defined policies to help guide their collecting focus and discourage any suggestion that they are little more than latter-day incarnations of Dickens’ Old Curiosity Shop.

Collecting and conserving remain vital parts of any museum’s role.

To those roles, however, we must add a third: storytelling. Museums, I believe, do not simply provide a place for ‘relics’ to live quiet retirements behind glass. No. Museums must lead the past in conversation with the present by telling stories through exhibition, through music, and through the dramatic arts – and we as members of the public must be prepared to let history surprise us in the process.

This process can be controversial, for it may mean that the stories or founding myths which have defined a community for many generations – the arrival of Loyalists; the leadership of Sir Sam Hughes during the Great War; old Ontario’s industrial growth; and yes, the life and times of Sir John A. Macdonald – will have to share the spotlight with stories that have lain buried under a century or more of historical indifference.

But it can also be exciting, heartwrenching, and heartwarming.

Stories like the tragic tale of Lin Tee (a Chinese woman living in Lindsay, whose plight at the hands of an abusive husband spurred a dramatic race riot a century ago); the caring efforts of Lindsay Citizens’ Relief Association (see Lindsay Advocate, April 2017); the complex relationship Little Britain residents had with the late Stanley Dayton (see Lindsay Advocate July 2018); and the good works carried out by local women who served at home and abroad during wartime, can change our perceptions of history and inspire us to be more compassionate and empathetic as citizens.

Museums, for their part, must continue to embrace the curatorial possibilities proffered by stories dominating current discourse, however challenging or provocative, and seek new and inclusive ways to “conserve the relics of the past for future generations.�

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

Â?

Â? Â?

Â?Â? Â? Â? Â

ƒ

 ­ € � ­ � ‚ ƒ � „ �

Â? Â…Â

Â?

Â

With vanilla ice cream and strawberries

449 Kent St. W Lindsay, Ontario 705-328-2929 symposiumcafe.com

29

TREVOR’S TAKE Troubled Bridge Over Water This Just In: A governmentappointed official reported that there was “a great deal of dissatisfaction TREVOR HUTCHISON being expressed at Fenelon Falls” over progress on the bridge.

That may sound current, but it’s actually a report from 1887. And that’s not a typo: 18-87. It seems that figuring the best way (and the number of ways) over the Fenelon River is just part of the Fenelon DNA, perhaps as integral to a Fenelonite as as our perpetual rivalry with Bobcaygeon.

The first bridge in Fenelon was constructed in 1842 and replaced by a second in 1867. That was replaced again in 1882 when the Toronto Iron Bridge Company built a wood-floored steel structure for $4,931.85. The dissatisfaction in 1887 was over the swing-bridge, now part of the Rail Trail.

Construction of that languished until 1894 as local authorities, the railway company and the federal government argued over the financial arrangement. So while the rest of the area and country was in full-on expansion and growth mode, Fenelon stalled, pending bridge infrastructure issues.

Legend has it that at one point in Leslie Frost’s premiership, Fenelon was offered full funding for a second bridge over the river as part of a proposed bypass. The village, spurred on by opposition of some downtown merchants who feared a bypass would be bad for business, declined. Bobcaygeon however would approve their proposed bypass.

The Bobcaygeon bypass not only didn’t kill their village, it helped it to grow to almost twice the size of Fenelon.

Jump ahead another 30 years and in Fenelon Falls we are once again talking about bridges. A corridor study was started in 2015 which confirmed, among other things, that summer traffic in Fenelon sucks is just horrible. And ironically, while a previous generation of Fenelon merchants fought a second crossing, the provincial portion of this corridor study funding came from the ‘Business Retention and Expansion Project.”

The existing crossing, according to the Transportation Master Plan, will exceed 100 per cent capacity in 2027.

City Council just approved an environmental study of a proposed second crossing, meaning the village is one step closer. But it’s not just a river that has to be crossed: environmental, planning and funding hurdles will also have to be traversed and all of this will take time. But sometimes taking the time to do it right is worth it. That 1882 Fenelon bridge was hastily constructed 17 inches below the previous one and had to be subsequently raised.

Here’s hoping we get it right this time.

30

Now Booking Portrait Editorial Fine Art

@esmithphoto 519-940-1713 ernphoto@outlook.ca www.erinsmithphotography.ca

This is one of those

missed opportunities in life.

was . s s e sin e here u b r You sed to b o supp ADVERTISE WITH US

Email or call us today.

705-341-1496

kawarthalakespublisher@gmail.com

www.lindsayadvocate.ca

Connecting People for more than 100 years.

Internet | Telephone | Digital TV | Security

www.nexicom.net

Dear Reader, People are tired of big businesses pretending to know them simply because they use their first name in an email. People are also beginning to detox from spending so much time on social platforms, and are now also listening to podcasts, reading good magazines, and watching videos on platforms like YouTube. The days when Zuckerberg shared your posts freely are long gone. Today, you have to pay to be seen well on Facebook. Both readers and small businesses are heading back to more traditional experiences, like quality print media.

Why are more people reading local magazines?

A quality magazine – one that isn’t filled with just ads and generic editorial -- provides relevant, well-written, local content. Even tourists pick up local magazines to see what’s happening in the area, and to get a sense of the people and the issues. Good local magazines convey compassion, understanding, and empathy.

Why are advertisers returning to local magazines?

Local magazines provide the right context for their advertising. Local stories create unique and entertaining experiences for readers that fit nicely with advertisers who want to build customer loyalty. If your business demonstrates active involvement in local issues, a local magazine may also tell your story. A major factor of magazine ad effectiveness is found in being persistent and consistent.

People see your ad month after month. It proves you are not a fly-by-night company. Print is also considered by readers to be the most trustworthy kind of advertising.

We’re an authentic, socially-conscious magazine that has community building at its heart as we approach our first-year anniversary. We’re here as a part of this community, to challenge some things, to celebrate some others. If we can help move your business along, reach out to us anytime.

Sincerely, Bob Polan Marketing Consultant Roderick Benns, Publisher 705.341.1496 • kawarthalakespublisher@gmail.com