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What does higher city spending deliver?

Th e

Midlife crisis? More like midlife reboot

Transportation, low wages, are stalling our city

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Kawartha Lakes’ Premier News Magazine • October 2026

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OCTOBER 2026 VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 103

Contents On the Cover

Roderick Benns PUBLISHER

Rebekah McCracken EXECUTIVE EDITOR

The midlife reboot. Local voices explore how middle age can become an opportunity to rethink career, health, relationships and what matters most. 20

Features Trevor Hutchinson

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Lisa Hart

WRITER-AT-LARGE

The Giving Issue

Views letters Thoughts on climate change. 6

Mike Puffer

WRITER-AT-LARGE

Robyn Best REPORTER

benns’ belief The transformation prime minister. 9 the other side The day after 40. 26 sarah’s say There’s a form for that. 28

Darren Hoiting

ADVERTISING SALES

Cara Baycroft

ADVERTISING SALES

Art Direction + Design: Web Developers: Colour and Code Kimberly Durrant Sarah Fournier Colour and Code Photographers: Sienna Frost Printed By: Cofax Printing

Cover Photo: Andy Bowins at his nephew’s farm in Dunsford. Photo: Marney Mcgill.

Please send editorial inquiries to Roderick Benns at roderick@lindsayadvocate.ca or 705-341-1496. Please send ad inquiries to Darren Hoiting at 705-991-3188 or darrenhoiting@outlook.com, or to Cara Baycroft at 905-431-4638 or cara.baycroft@gmail.com. lindsayadvocate.ca •

@lindsay.advocate

trevor’s take The dark side of lower prices. 52

Kawartha Lakes Scorecard An election-year analysis asks what taxpayers are getting for municipal spending. 17

Vital Signs: Getting to work Transportation barriers, low wages and the high cost of living are making it harder to find and keep good jobs. 35

The choice behind the choice

Regulars KL public library 46 crossword 47 cool tips for a hot planet Does global warming mean doom? 49 just in time A century-old Sturgeon Lake tragedy recalls the loss of two young brothers 50 marketplace 53

PRIVACY POLICY: The Lindsay Advocate is independently owned & operated. The opinions expressed herein are the views of the contributors & do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine. Photos, text & art work contained in The Lindsay Advocate are copyrighted & may not be published, broadcast or rewritten without the express permission of the Publisher.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, & without notice. The Publisher has made every effort to ensure information contained herein was accurate at press time. The Publisher does not assume & hereby disclaims any liability to any party for damage, loss, or disruption caused by errors or omissions.

Non‑profit organizations are woven into the everyday life, doing essential work. 10

newcomer 54

How voters navigate a five-way mayoral race. 39

After dark at 68 Lindsay Street North Round-the-clock supports identified as essential, yet to be funded. 43

Business Today The John Howard Society Hub offers safety, shelter and support 30 business insights Just because we can use AI, should we? 32 Wilcox Architects celebrates 40 years in business 33

Letters to the editor

The connection between our communities Don McCumber, warden of Victoria County in 1986, writes in the letters section (Sept. Advocate) that while “the name and municipal structure may have changed, the values that have always defined this area – hard work, community spirit, neighbourly kindness, and pride in our heritage – remain as strong today as ever.” I would like to believe that. But some decisions under the new municipal structure make me wonder whether that assessment is overly optimistic.

Fee facts Re: “Trevors Take,” September edition of the Advocate. I would like to correct a statement that was made by contributing editor Trevor Hutchinson. In his column he writes, “But Ashmore’s biggest bit of magical thinking is that eliminating development fees will help anything at all.” This is not true. For the record I have never said that I would eliminate development fees. I have said that I would restore development fees back to their pre-2026 levels. That way the 150 per cent increase would not be implemented; the current pre 2026 levels would stay the same. My goal is to bring the housing industry back to life and work with developers and homebuyers to meet our housing needs and commercial development and jobs. — Ron Ashmore, Kawartha Lakes

Climate change is no theory

Consider the former Ops Community Centre and Arena. This was not simply municipal property. Local people put their blood, sweat and tears into creating and supporting it. Generations used it for hockey, figure skating and other community activities. When it was lost, it was badly missed. At a special council meeting on Nov. 12, 2020, council closed the Ops Arena and Community Centre capital project and decided not to use $3.87 million in special debenture funding associated with it. How was a facility so important to local residents allowed to deteriorate to that point? The community plainly had not lost interest. In April 2021, council heard from a committee to rebuild the Ops Community Centre and authorized further investigation of recreational uses for the former arena space. The issue is larger than whether demolition was justified. It is whether amalgamation has weakened the connection between local communities and the facilities they once built, supported and regarded as their own.

Re “Causation or probability,” by Gene Balfour, Letters to the Editor, September Advocate.

— Carl Sweetman, Lindsay

I think what Balfour is trying to say in his letter rebutting Ginny Colling’s column about climate change, is that social media, and various “CCCT-supporting campaigns” are causing people to naively support the “climate change crisis theory.”

Sarah’s Say had much to say on Indigenous questions

He claims that “individual extreme events result from a complex mix of variability, local conditions, and human influences,” presumably suggesting humans can’t do much to influence something so complicated. He then points to science relying on “long-term observation, not media coverage.” Well, here’s some long-term observation from NASA: “Human Activity Is the Cause of Increased Greenhouse Gas Concentrations.” NASA references the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “composed of scientific experts from countries all over the world,” which concluded “that it is unequivocal that the increase of CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere over the industrial era is the result of human activities and that human influence is the principal driver of many changes observed across the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere.” Scientists don’t argue about this. The climate change crisis is not a theory. Balfour’s distinction between “cause” and “probability” only muddies the waters and adds needless confusion, when there is actually very little confusion among scientists. — Diane Engelstad, Fenelon Falls 6

The ‘With Intention’ article by Sarah Fournier (Sarah’s Say, September Advocate), was particularly thoughtful and reflective. This piece captures the experience of attending a pow wow with openness, respect, and honest curiosity. I especially appreciate how it acknowledges the importance of tradition, and community while recognizing that learning is an important and ongoing process. Her personal connection makes it relatable, and the closing message about sharing her experience with the next generation I found particularly meaningful, as someone who has asked similar questions. It was really encouraging to read. — Laura Love, Lindsay

What the Advocate means I am so proud and pleased that our small town has its own print magazine that is devoted entirely to local issues, people and events. There was a huge gap in the community when The Lindsay Post disappeared, but the Advocate is superior in every way. It keeps me informed, encourages me to think, celebrates our community and challenges it to improve. I look forward to it every month. Keep up the good work. — Gael Morrison, Lindsay

Don’t worry, be happy? I greatly appreciate Ginny Colling’s regular contributions to the Advocate on environmental issues, including her piece in the previous issue, “Sweating the Big Stuff.” Her work is always clear, informed and accurate. However, in the most recent issue, reader Gene Balfour submitted a letter, and I have to confess I struggle to understand Balfour’s point. While he seems to understand something about the realities Colling is describing, it seems he is saying that she is exaggerating. In my considered opinion, this kind of thinking is singularly unhelpful. Mr. Balfour seems to be saying that we shouldn’t worry, just be happy. Colling, along with the world’s climate science community, and countless political, economic, and theological thinkers, for reasons that are not made clear by Balfour, are exaggerating, and are trying to…. what? Scare us? Control us?

Celebrating 100 issues We recently brought the communi‑ ty together for a celebration mark‑ ing the Advocate’s 100th issue — a shared moment of pride. Readers, contributors, and long‑time support‑ ers stopped by to say hello, pick up a copy of our latest edition, and swap stories about how the magazine has shaped local conversations since it appeared in early 2018. Thank you to everyone who took a moment here, online, or in person to wish us well and to dare hope for 100 more.

Most of us are consumers of news from many sources. We are able to see with our own eyes and minds, that we are living in an unprecedented time of climate catastrophes happening with a frequency those of us who are getting old have never seen. Pretending that we’re not facing a crisis, that all this climate crisis talk is an exaggeration, is akin to the proverbial ostrich with his head in the sand. — Karen Turner, Bobcaygeon

A proper loo Re: R. Bourke’s letter about the lack of washrooms (other than porta-potties) available during Classics on Kent and Brits in the Park. The Victoria British Car Club (VBCC) hosts Brits in the Park on the third Sunday in July and has done so for over 20 years. The two events, Brits and Classics, sometimes overlap. VBCC always pays the City of Kawartha Lakes to open the washrooms in the armoury. Again, this year they were available to everyone. So, if a clean flush water closet is necessary, we welcome a visit. — Ken Inglis, Victoria British Car Club

The Advocate welcomes your letters. We do not publish anonymous letters unless it’s a matter of public importance and/or someone risks harm by writing us. We publish under strict guidelines & only if we can verify the person’s identity. Keep your letters to 200 words or less. Simply email roderick@lindsayadvocate.ca. 7

Support quality local journalism! The Advocate and Kawartha Lakes Weekly are your 100% local print media choices based in Kawartha Lakes. Visit our website and choose Support Us, or contact 705-341-1496 or roderick@ lindsayadvocate.ca. We thank the following people for their support:

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OPINION

The transformation prime minister

Benns’ Belief

By Roderick Benns Publisher

It's time to talk turkey. (Or ham it up with the people you love.)

LEADERS LEAD IN MANY different ways. There are transactional or laissez-faire leaders from Canadian history (Stephen Harper). Populist leaders (John Diefenbaker). Or strategic or situational leaders (William Lyon Mackenzie King.) Canada has had just six prime ministers who have been transformational leaders. They are Sir John A. Macdonald; Sir Wilfrid Laurier; Louis St. Laurent; Lester Pearson; Pierre Trudeau, and Brian Mulroney. While only 19 months into his mandate, it is easy to believe that Mark Carney will one day join them. Keep in mind that transformational doesn’t necessarily imply perfection – it means they have fundamentally altered the nation in significant ways.

Canada has had just six prime ministers who have been transformational.

Your Thanksgiving starts here.

Macdonald and Laurier were literal nation builders. The country didn’t exist in its present form without their work. St. Laurent – curiously forgotten by most – brought Newfoundland into Confederation, oversaw construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, launched the St. Lawrence Seaway, and laid the groundwork for old-age pensions and hospital insurance, among other social policy improvements. Pearson managed to be transformative in just five years: Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, a new flag, and new international alliances through NATO and multilateral diplomacy.

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Trudeau Sr. patriated the Constitution; introduced the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; advanced official bilingualism and multiculturalism; and introduced the National Energy Program. Brian Mulroney was highly ambitious, negotiating the Canada–U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1988, and then later the North American Free Trade Agreement. (Mulroney, like all of us, could never have predicted a despot would take power in the U.S.)

He also implemented the GST; oversaw massive privatization; led anti-apartheid efforts against South Africa; advanced major Indigenous policy reforms; and was declared the greenest prime minister in Canadian history. Carney is off to an unprecedented start, catalyzed by the lunatic leader south of the border. His landmark speech at Davos set the tone for a prime ministerial approach that could not have contrasted more with Justin Trudeau’s sophomore misfires. While it’s axiomatic that his bold plans must bear fruit, Carney has lit a fire that has ignited Canadian resolve. From new pipelines to hydroelectricity expansion, to massive spending (finally) on our military, the PM’s firm response to Trump’s trade war and tariff threats has elevated his domestic and international stature. As the European Union courts a unique, intimate relationship with us, one gets the sense Carney is just getting started. His ambition bears political fruit, so far. He now holds the highest recorded approval rating in Canadian history, as shown in a study by Spark Insights. The PM’s surge in the polls is coming predominantly from former Conservatives, according to Angus Reid, a moment of unprecedented Canadian unity for all but a narrow fringe who live and breathe party politics. As I write this, the Build Canada Strong Act has just been introduced. Its 361 sections could test Carney’s sky-high approval ratings, as the bill would reform project approvals, overhaul transportation regulations to attract investment in ports and rail, create national trade corridors, and reduce strike-related disruptions. As the prime minister told the New York Times recently, Trump’s exploitation of Canadian dependency on American products had taught the country a bitter lesson: “There’s certain things, once you’ve seen them, you can’t unsee them.” And so the seventh transformational leader of Canada continues the work he was elected to do.

Roderick Benns grew up in Lindsay’s east ward. He created The Lindsay Advocate in 2017 and can name all the prime ministers in order, which rarely comes in handy.

The Giving Issue Non‑profit organizations are woven into the everyday life of Kawartha Lakes, often doing the essential work that keeps communities connected, creative, and cared for. But behind the programs residents rely on is a constant struggle to secure the funding that keeps those doors open. In this year’s October Advocate – which we call The Giving Issue – we look at the Kawartha Art Gallery and Big Brothers Big Sisters and the challenge they (and their peer non-profits) face each year.

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The Giving Issue

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The Giving Issue

F E AT U R E

L to R: Katelyn Graham, community engagement coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton, Janice Balfour, executive director, and Vanessa Koot, program manager.

Kawartha Lakes non-profits struggle to stay afloat amid funding challenges By Robyn Best

n Kawartha Lakes, the work of a non-profit can come down to a stubborn kind of math: how to stretch a grant that only covers a project, a fundraiser that may not break even and a community need that keeps growing. For rural organizations trying to run art programs, youth mentorships and everyday services, the challenge is not finding people to help — it is finding enough stable funding to keep the doors open. Susan Taylor, executive director of the Kawartha Art Gallery, said they receive no funding from the provincial or federal governments. She does note that the municipality gives them funding. “We’re very fortunate to get the level of municipal funding that we do, and our municipality has had the foresight to have an operational funding model in place for the recognized cultural organizations in Kawartha Lakes. That’s not something all municipalities do.” Taylor said this funding is what helps the gallery be able to pay for their day-to-day operational expenses.

She said applying for grants to secure funding is not as simple as it seems. There are grants available, however many of them are project based, and they’re also in high demand. “The amount of organizations applying for those funds has grown (but) the funds haven’t.” “It’s really a gamble (applying),” Taylor said. Taylor said the issue of funding in a rural area like Kawartha Lakes isn’t unique to the gallery. “It makes me concerned about not-for-profits within our community (that) are working to provide a level of service that our residents deserve, how (are they) going to be able to continue in any capacity with a provincial and federal government that don’t understand the need of rural communities.” Janice Balfour, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton, said the organization gets less than $5,000 per year of funding from the government, through an agreement the national organization has with the Ministry of Education. Paddles on display at Kawartha Art Gallery. Photo: Sienna Frost.

The organization offers a variety of opportunities for youth in the community, including a summer camp, and it’s mentoring programming, matching youth in the community with a mentor. Balfour said she has dream programs she wants to offer but can’t with the budget they currently have. “A living wage would be nice to be able to pay the staff, because none of us make a living wage, including myself,” Balfour said, noting that most staff, including herself, have second jobs. No one is able to work more than 20 hours a week at the non-profit. “I would love to be able to expand the number of kids that we can put into matches and be able to support them better,” Balfour said. She would also like to introduce a tutoring and an afterschool drop-in program.

Gallery’s new location The gallery will soon be moving into their new location at 19 Cambridge St., Lindsay and Taylor hopes the move will show residents they offer more than just artwork on a wall. “We’re really going to be expanding our offerings to the community in exhibits, in events, in programming, to really maximize the return from being in that space. There’s no challenge for us in meeting the need. The challenge for us is the funding support.”

One of the program she’s most proud of is the gallery’s “seniors for seniors” program. This sensory-based visual arts initiative brings practicing senior artists into longterm care homes, delivering engaging and inclusive workshops that foster creativity, connection, and wellbeing among participants. The program is designed to promote social participation, reduce isolation, and strengthen community ties through shared creative expression. The program began as a monthly offering, but they’ve recently expanded it to once a week. The gallery pays the guests artists for their time, and after hearing other communities, like Peterborough, wanting to bring the program to their own long-term care homes, Taylor applied for a grant. It was denied.

Balfour has found that support from the community has been down in recent years, with some of their fundraising events having to be cancelled, with the time and effort to run the events not resulting in any real dollars for the agency. For example at press time, the organization had to cancel an upcoming charity golf tournament due to lack of registration. Balfour said aside from monetary donations they take donations of board games, snacks for their summer camp, and tickets to events for mentors to go to with their mentees.

When it comes to grants, they’re often for new projects, something Taylor says makes it harder to apply for them. “You may have a really successful program, but there’s no security that the program is going to be able to continue, because where are you going to get the money when that position is done?”

For rural organizations trying to run art programs, youth mentorships and everyday services, the challenge is not finding people to help — it is finding enough stable funding to keep the doors open. Balfour echoes this sentiment. “If you can’t have a good, strong core program, running new programs doesn’t help.” Even if they get a grant, “you have to implement that new program. It’s all the paperwork; it’s the tracking of the dollars; it’s reporting back to the granter.” The organization currently operates on a month-to-month basis, and they often end their year in a deficit. “We’re very fortunate that our space is donated, so we only have to pay our utilities, but we still have to keep the lights on,” Balfour said. If they were forced to close, shesaid the effects would be devastating. “I don’t know that (the youth) would have that one-to-one support anymore. There really isn’t anybody else in the community that does one-to-one mentoring in the style that we do.”

Susan Taylor, executive director of the Kawartha Art Gallery, said applying for grants is like buying a lottery ticket. Photo: Sienna Frost.

Even small monthly donations add up. Ten dollars a month is half of an intake throughout the year, which Balfour said makes a real impact. “Without our community support, we wouldn’t be here. That would mean that over 50 kids in our community wouldn’t have that caring person in their life to support them.” Taylor said the gallery is a place people enjoy, and it helps add to the economy. Her hope is people will start to have conversations about the importance of the gallery, and other non-profits to help bring a change to how funding is given. “If a sector really matters to (residents), talk with your elected officials. Ask them about their commitment to developing it.” LA 13

The Giving Issue

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ADVERTORIAL

Jennifer Mabee, Senior Wealth Advisor IG Wealth Management Inc., Mutual Fund Division

EVERY YEAR CANADIANS DONATE to charities, and this generosity is part of our culture. Behind every gift, there is a reason. At its core charitable giving is usually much more about powerful emotional drivers than the financial side. Although every donor’s journey is very personal, we tend to be drawn to community and desire a sense of belonging. Often wanting to feel connected to something larger than ourselves, sometimes we join a group or community that can achieve together what we can’t accomplish alone. It’s how we create change that lasts beyond a single moment. We also often give for a sense of purpose as a way of expressing our values. Every gift can be a statement or tell a story based on our individual experiences. We may desire to create something that lasts well beyond today, to leave a mark that outlives us shaping a better future for others.

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When we think of being generous it can mean so many different things. It can be simple acts of kindness, giving of our time or giving through our income or wealth. Many do not consider the long-term thinking of building a legacy. Many think it can only be for those that are considered extremely wealthy. The truth is that anyone can have philanthropy as part of their estate plan and create a legacy. In addition to the emotional side, there can also be the financial strategic side. When we plan well through timing, tax credits, and the right vehicles we can enhance our impact. It is important to consider if you should give cash or investments in kind as there may be tax benefits you can take advantage of. You could consider donating a life insurance policy and depending on your wishes there are different strategies to accomplish this. If you have a business, another thing to consider is whether you should donate personally or corporately.

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The Giving Issue

The Gift Beyond a Lifetime: Building a Legacy Through Charitable Giving

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FEATURE

City Matters • feature

The Kawartha Lakes Scorecard By Randy Neals | Analysis

A four-part election-year test of what municipal government costs — and what taxpayers get.

awartha Lakes voters are choosing the council that will govern through rising taxes, aging infrastructure and increasingly expensive municipal services. That makes this the right time to ask a basic question: What are taxpayers getting for their money? This series applies one test to four major areas of municipal government: What standard did council approve? How much demand did the service face? What did it cost? What happened? And if the result fell short, why? This is analysis, not an audit. Higher spending is not automatically waste. Lower spending is not automatically efficiency. Where the public record does not answer a question, that is a reporting gap — not proof of poor performance. If municipal services are performing well, the evidence should show it. If they are falling short, taxpayers should be told where, why and what will change.

An accident at the corner of Victoria and Colborne Streets in Lindsay, attended by emergency services. Photo: Randy Neals. PA R T O N E

Before taxes rise further, show taxpayers what municipal spending delivers Kawartha Lakes has mapped out a costly decade ahead. Before residents are asked to finance it, they should be able to see what today’s spending is producing.

K READ MORE: The Kawartha Lakes Scorecard Series Read the other parts of Randy Neals’ electionyear test series on Advocate Online lindsayadvocate.ca

awartha Lakes’ Long-Term Financial Plan projected property-tax increases averaging 7 per cent a year from 2026 through 2035 — 5 per cent for operations and 2 per cent for infrastructure. Council did not approve 10 years of tax increases in advance, and the 2026 increase was 5.9 per cent. But 7 per cent was the city’s longrange planning assumption. Compounded for 10 years, 7 per cent annually is almost 97 per cent. A $4,000 municipal tax bill would approach $7,870 before assessment changes, growth, area rates and future council decisions. The pressures are real. Roads and bridges age. Labour and emergency services cost more. Infrastructure must be replaced. Kawartha Lakes also serves a large seasonal population that is not captured by permanent-population figures alone. Those pressures may justify higher taxes. They do not remove the city’s obligation to show what taxpayers receive for the money already being spent.

The city already knows how to measure performance

The $7.5-million efficiency exercise needs a score

Kawartha Lakes is not starting from zero. Its 2025 Asset Management Plan tracks conditions and service levels for about $5.38 billion in municipal assets.

Council adopted the 2026 budget after removing about $7.5 million on the expectation that equivalent operating efficiencies would be found. The work was not complete when the budget was approved.

A clearer operating example comes from Paramedic Services. Its 2025 reporting covered more than 14,000 calls and included response performance, ambulance use, cost per ambulance hour and Code Zero periods, when no local ambulance was available. The service reported that Code Zero occurrences had fallen by just over 90 per cent from 2023, while cost per ambulance hour remained stable and overall spending remained in line with Ontario municipal averages. That is what a useful scorecard does: it identifies the demand, cost and result, including good news. We could find no single public scorecard that does the same for the city’s major operating services. During amalgamation, restructuring commissioner Harry Kitchen recommended a taxpayer report card showing unit costs and performance. More than 25 years later, the principle remains sound.

The workforce numbers need reconciling Kitchen’s pre-amalgamation work reported 443 full-time employees across Victoria County and its local governments. Detailed 2026 tax-supported budget schedules add to about 771 full-time equivalent positions. A separate city workforce presentation reported about 840 core FTEs and said more than 1,500 people deliver municipal services when broader employee categories are included. Those figures are not like-for-like. Responsibilities changed. Land ambulance became a municipal responsibility. Water and wastewater operations changed. Police, libraries, long-term care, seasonal staff and other categories may be counted differently. Contracting also moves labour cost outside the employee headcount. That is exactly why the city should reconcile the numbers. The headline figures are substantially different, but without a like-for-like historical reconciliation they cannot show how much staffing has actually grown on a comparable basis. Taxpayers deserve to know which new responsibilities, categories and accounting changes explain the difference — and what change remains after the figures are made comparable.

Compounded for 10 years, 7 per cent annually is almost 97 per cent. A $4,000 municipal tax bill would approach $7,870 before assessment changes, growth, area rates and future council decisions. 18

By June 30, the city was forecasting a year-end operating deficit of about $10.7 million. Winter control alone accounted for roughly $4 million of that pressure. By August, work was still continuing on approximately $7.6 million in council-directed efficiencies. Weather, fuel prices and emergencies can upset a budget. But the efficiency exercise itself is measurable: How much recurring efficiency was identified? How much was implemented? How much will actually be realized? Which services changed? Did service levels fall? Calling something an efficiency target is not the same as achieving an efficiency. The city already knows how to measure performance, as Kawartha Lakes Paramedic Chief Sara Johnson’s frontline service shows. Their data comes from the 14,000 calls they attended. Photo: Sienna Frost.

By June 30, the city was forecasting a year-end operating deficit of about $10.7 million. Winter control alone accounted for roughly $4 million of that pressure.

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Roads show why standards matter Kawartha Lakes maintains about 5,400 lane-kilometres of road. Its geography makes road service unusually difficult. Our analysis found more than 640 kilometres of municipal road in Ward 1 and about 120 kilometres in Ward 5. Permanent population per kilometre differs dramatically. That does not determine what either ward should spend. Seasonal residents, traffic, agriculture, schools, road class and emergency access all matter. It does show why a citywide average can hide very different service conditions. The city already works under provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards and council-approved winter-maintenance policies. So publish the results. How often were standards met? What is the maintenance backlog? What does a lane-kilometre cost? How quickly are serious defects repaired? How much work is contracted? How much do road conditions improve for the money spent?

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Without those answers, residents cannot distinguish an inefficient operation from an underfunded one. One may need reform. The other may need more money.

ELECTION QUESTION

PERSONAL SERVICE

Will you require an independently checkable annual scorecard showing the standard, demand, complete cost and actual result for every major municipal service?

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Tax increases may ultimately be necessary. But before residents are told what they must pay next, they should be shown clearly what they received for what they already paid. LA

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Randy Neals is a Fleming engineering graduate who writes analytical pieces for the Advocate on municipal affairs, infrastructure, public policy and technology.

Andy Bowins feels the idea of having a crisis during midlife is more like an opportunity to embrace. Photo: Marney Mcgill.

COVER STORY � BY LISA HART

The midlife reboot

For a growing number of people in their 40s, 50s and early 60s, middle age is not a slow fade, but rather a time of transformation. Work, health, family and identity are undergoing transformations, with the best chapters still to be written.

The first use of the popular term midlife crisis is generally credited to a Torontoborn psychoanalyst from the 20th century named Elliot Jaques. He was interested in the effects of confronting mortality and the limits of time.

“When I started, most people were interested in getting rid of pain. Over the last decade, I have seen a real shift from ‘what can you do for me?’ to ‘what can I do for myself?’” Silva teaches pain free movement classes for floor and chair. Feedback from the classes indicate that the participants find the classes beneficial in releasing tension, increasing mobility as well as improved posture.

Jaques might have found Andrew Bowins an interesting subject. When a serious health scare brought him up close and personal with his own mortality, Bowins doubled down on something he had already begun working towards – a midlife reboot.

“Overall people are interested in keeping up with their favourite activities well into their older years and any way to prevent injuries is high on their radar,” says Silva.

“There wasn’t a button I pushed to start the reboot,” says Bowins, 59, originally from Lindsay. “Life just started taking away some of the things I had used to define myself. The heart scare did not start my reboot. It put a clock on it.”

Bowins explains that his shift to looking at what he could do for himself was never one big event. After almost a decade of slowly reconsidering what matters, he found himself returning to some things he had instinctively understood as a kid growing up in Lindsay.

And Bowins isn’t the only person starting to reimagine their midlife chapter. In her 25 years as a massage therapist, Sandra Silva of Fenelon Falls has noticed a change in client attitudes. So she understands the health scare Bowins speaks of, as wellness is a big factor in her clients’ lives.

“We got bored and invented things to do. We got lost and found our way. We made mistakes that mercifully did not become searchable content. We experienced things without always needing to document them,” says Bowins. And these are lessons he believes are worth bringing forward in life.

Bowins recalls how he couldn’t wait to get out of Lindsay. He saw moving out of his hometown as the first mountain in his life. He wanted to see the world, build a career, make money, provide for his family and see how far he could climb. While his career was giving him experiences he could never have imagined in Lindsay, he was becoming good at measuring the things ambition gave him – such as salary, promotions, and titles. Beginning his professional adventures in Toronto, Bowins spent 10 years there working for various agencies including Fleischmann Hillard, the GCI group, and as a partner in a firm called Maverick Public Relations. It was his client work in Canada that led to the opportunity to be recruited by Dell and eventually move to Austin Texas in 2004. His resume includes high level positions with such notable companies as Samsung Electronics, Mastercard and Nokia. “I attribute the experiences as a bartender in my hometown of Lindsay as the foundation for this career,” says Bowins. He didn’t realize it consciously, but Andy Bowins was slowly becoming Andrew – a professional persona. Andrew liked control, worried about appearances and was used to thinking three steps ahead, an exhausting guy who thrived on ambition. Andrew wasn’t fake – he was armour, he says in retrospect, and his purpose was to protect the Lindsay kid underneath who was afraid of not belonging. In contrast, Andy was willing to laugh, play, listen and risk being vulnerable and affectionate. He was even willing to look ridiculous, on occasion. “When you spend decades being defined by work, it is unsettling when work stops cooperating with the story you have written about yourself,” Bowins explains. He considers the eventual unravelling of his career to be one of the more useful disruptions in his life because it forced him to separate who he is from what he does.

Raluca Myshrall is enjoying her new position as she navigates her midlife reboot. Photo: Lisa Hart.

Bowins recalls how he couldn’t wait to get out of Lindsay. He saw moving out of his hometown as the first mountain in his life. He wanted to see the world, build a career, make money, provide for his family and see how far he could climb. The scary part, explains Bowins, wasn’t changing careers; it was finally looking at himself. It was facing changing friendships, anxiety and questions about who he was without the structure of the career he had spent decades building. He resisted it all, at first, because Andrew liked a plan. Raluca Myshrall of Bobcaygeon had a plan when she moved from Romania to Canada in 2006. While her career didn’t unravel the way Bowins had, her ‘okay’ career with unknown job security wasn’t the professional story she wanted to write about herself. For Myshrall, midlife became opportunity in place of crisis when fate saw her receiving a job offer she didn’t expect. “You need to look at more than money. You need to look at the environment and how it can affect you,” says Myshrall, who works in the field of accounting.

Jennifer Mabee, financial advisor, says midlife can still bring financial stresses, so planning helps. Photo: Lisa Hart.

Myshrall let go of the professional image that wasn’t serving her and found herself in a challenging new learning environment. “I never had this kind of open-door communication before, and I love it,” she says. While Myshrall remains in the same general field of accounting, she now finds herself being offered training opportunities and is encouraged to ask questions at her new ‘midlife job reboot.’ Her new position allows her to expand her knowledge through positive interactions with coworkers, her supervisor and her boss. Jennifer Mabee, a financial advisor for 29 years, doesn’t believe it’s time to retire the concept of the midlife crisis just yet. “It’s (just) a different type of crisis than it used to be.” The Lindsay-based financial expert says she sees clients facing extra emotional and financial stressors that weren’t there before. “Kids need to lean on their parents more, parents need more prolonged care, and family isn’t as close by as they used to be.” Mabee, a senior wealth advisor at IG Wealth & Associates in Lindsay, says that clients want to travel more because they say older generations wait too long, but they are being pulled in different directions. She explains that as the crisis of the sandwich generation. Being pulled in multiple directions was something happening to Bowins, too. Personal stressors had already disrupted his life, bringing their own set of revelations. And that was before career changes arrived on the scene. “Divorce taught me, you can be a good person, love people deeply, and still get important things wrong. I do not want to spend the second half of my life prosecuting the first.”

Bowins explains that it was easy to look outward for explanations but much harder to ask what parts were under his control. Some of the answers he found were not flattering. Once he became less interested in putting himself on trial, he found that judgement slowly started to become curiosity. He says that curiosity has become a pretty important part of his reboot.

“Divorce taught me, you can be a good person, love people deeply, and still get important things wrong. I do not want to spend the second half of my life prosecuting the first.”

Now, Bowins is more than willing to drive seven hours to get back to Lindsay. “I thought those places were just places. Now I think they were the infrastructure of friendship. Small town life teaches you things quietly. People know your family. Somebody notices when you are struggling. Friends show up. You belong to a community because you participate in it. And enough people know embarrassing stories about you to keep your ego under reasonable control.” In 2025, Bowins launched RestlessUrban, a lifestyle media brand for adults over 50. He jokes that it is the most expensive therapy he has ever had. According to Bowins, the online magazine currently reaches roughly seven million people and Bowins considers it a real privilege to hear how different people navigate life after 50. “Nobody has a monopoly on the answers,” explains Bowins. “I am not standing in front of this community telling people how to live. I am sitting among them, asking questions. In many ways RestlessUrban is not the result of my reboot. It is part of it.” And perhaps that is the heart of what Bowins means when he says that we belong to a community because we participate in it.

Andy Bowins says launching RestlessUrban, a lifestyle media brand, has been a kind of expensive therapy he has loved exploring. Photos: Marney Mcgill.

Lisa Hart began her writing career by freelancing for children’s magazines and continues to craft reading comprehension and vocabulary materials for kids. She is an occasional writer for The Lindsay Advocate and Kawartha Lakes Weekly newspaper. 24

Bowins learned to measure what ambition can take along with what it can give, and sums up his midlife lessons in a few simple but powerful statements. “Relationships matter. Health matters. Laughter matters. Purpose matters. Money matters, but it is not everything. Time matters because it is not unlimited. And community does not simply happen … you show up.” Andy and Andrew still want to build things, have influence, make money and win, but they’re much more careful these days about the cost. Bowins readily admits that he hasn’t found all the answers. He doesn’t think of himself as having become enlightened. He’s paying attention.

“I thought those places were just places. Now I think they were the infrastructure of friendship. Small town life teaches you things quietly. People know your family. Somebody notices when you are struggling.” Visits home remind Bowins where his roots live. He continues to explore lakefront property in Kawartha Lakes with the goal of having a home here for five months out of the year to be close to friends. He still plans to spend the remainder of the year in the United States with his daughter. Sixty years after Jaques first used the phrase in his paper ‘Death and the Midlife Crisis,” Bowins’ journey brings him to a different understanding of mortality and limited time – not as a measure of our failings, but as fuel for our successes. “Maybe the reboot isn’t about becoming somebody new. Maybe it’s not about trying to recreate the past. Maybe it’s just about deciding what is worth bringing forward and finding my way back to Andy. Turns out he never really left.” LA

OPINION

The Other Side Stop scrolling Go to lunch

The day after

Caeser and Bacon McCrispy®

By Sue Allen Advocate Online Editor & Columnist

IT WAS THE DAY AFTER my 40th birthday party. From what I remember, it was fabulous. All the vendors were close friends, and they truly impressed me. Everything turned out exactly as I had imagined. The DJ played all my favourite tunes, the decor was stunning and the food was amazing. I danced the night away. It was blissful. I snapped out of my reminiscing thoughts because it was time to get up and get myself together. I swung my legs to the floor and stood up. To my surprise, I heard a loud snap, crackle and pop, like the sound of milk being poured over Rice Krispies. It startled me. I wasn’t sure where the sound had come from. Confused, I looked down at my legs. Did my knees make that sound? No way. They did. I slowly sat on the edge of the bed, trying to process the sharp aches radiating from my knees. I remember hearing my older cousins complain about their knees and I’d tease them for being old. And here I was, suddenly relating to them. I literally turned 40 five days earlier. Was I old now? The excitement of my birthday celebration faded quickly as I tried to process this confusing and overwhelming feeling. But I had errands to run, so I pushed the thought aside, got dressed and headed out. As I walked towards the mall, I saw a woman from my mother’s church leaving the gym. Sandy was 73 and she looked great. I shared how old I felt with my achy knees. “Well, if you’re old, Sue, then I’m ancient!” We both laughed.

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“Look, you’re not old. You just need to get yourself into the gym and work out. Keep moving and you’ll be fine. If I can do it, you can do it too.” I appreciated Sandy. She always had an unapologetic way of telling the truth. Her honesty stung, but she wasn’t wrong.

333 Kent St W, Lindsay | 368 Angeline St S, Lindsay

That day, standing between the gym entrance and the mall entrance, I faced a simple but important decision. I could continue doing what was comfortable, or I could invest in my future self.

Frost Photo

I chose the gym. I walked in and signed up.

Sienna Frost

The reality is that you’re only as old as you feel. If I’m being honest, I never really thought much about aging. Silly, but true. Standing there, having just spoken with a 73-year-old woman who moved better than I did, was proof of that. That brief conversation changed my perspective.

with

Sandy

Here was a woman more than three decades older than me, with better mobility, more energy, and healthier habits. The issue wasn’t my age. It was the choices I had been making.

“Surrounded by natural beauty & interesting people” - Sienna

Growing older is inevitable, but feeling old is often the result of neglecting our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Too often, we blame age for things that are within our control. My 40th birthday taught me that life’s wake-up calls don’t always arrive in dramatic ways. Sometimes they come disguised as sore knees, a chance encounter, or an honest conversation with someone who has travelled farther down the road than you have. After all, you are not defined by the number of candles on your birthday cake. You are defined by your willingness to keep moving, keep growing, and keep showing up for yourself.

Sue is a regular columnist on Advocate Online. She was 15 when she moved to Lindsay and cried because she realized cow tipping might actually be a local activity.

www.frostphotos.ca (705) 341 7444 sfrostphoto@gmail.com

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OPINION

Sarah’s Say

There’s a form for that By Sarah Fournier Contributor

THERE IS A TRAFFIC LIGHT in Lindsay that drives me crazy. I encounter it on my early morning commute, when Kent Street is quiet and Lindsay Square Mall isn’t even open yet. Still, the advance green appears without fail, giving an imaginary line of mallbound traffic the right of way while I sit waiting at a red. I have lodged numerous complaints about this traffic light. Unfortunately, all of them have been directed to my husband. It recently occurred to me that after years of being disproportionately annoyed by this minor inconvenience, I have never tried to find out who is responsible for it. Can the timing change depending on the time of day? Does someone periodically review these things? And, most importantly, who am I actually supposed to tell? I did some digging and discovered Kawartha Lakes has a Safe Streets Program where residents can request traffic reviews, including the phase timing at existing signals. As it turns out, I have spent years complaining about something for which there is an actual form. Well done, Sarah. In my defence, complaining to the wrong audience is practically a local pastime. Spend five minutes in any community Facebook group and you’ll find potholes, snowbanks, parking grievances, and other municipal offences being diligently reported to thousands of people equally unable to fix them. My audience of one is smaller, but apparently just as effective. There’s one complication: I don’t actually live in Kawartha Lakes. (I’m just across the border in Cannington.) But I work here, use the pool, drive its roads,

support its businesses, and apparently have strong opinions about its traffic lights, but I don’t get a vote in the upcoming municipal election. Whether my grievance can be submitted is something I still need to investigate. But this small rabbit hole made me realize how much time we spend complaining about the everyday workings of our community without figuring out who can do something about them.

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Maybe that’s worth thinking about during an election month. Voting is one way people participate in local government, although apparently not one most are particularly good at. In the 2022 Kawartha Lakes municipal election, voter turnout was just shy of 33 per cent. Roughly two out of every three eligible voters didn’t cast a ballot.

As it turns out, I have spent years complaining about something for which there is an actual form. And yet, judging by any local Facebook group, we’re certainly not short on opinions about how our communities are run. Casting a ballot matters, but so do the actions we take between elections. Maybe being engaged in your community is as simple as finally directing your complaint somewhere more useful than a Facebook group, or in my case, my husband’s phone. I still don’t know whether my early morning advance green can be changed. Maybe there’s a perfectly good reason for it. But after years of complaining, I’ve at least figured out I’ve been calling the wrong department.

Sarah Fournier is the creative director for Fireside Publishing House. She makes magazines and newspapers pretty and loves making stained glass. Find Sarah at colourandcode.ca

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THE JOHN HOWARD SOCIETY HUB OFFERS SAFETY, SHELTER AND SUPPORT By Robyn Best

he business of caring just got a boost from the Hub, a 24/7, low-barrier space in Lindsay operated by the John Howard Society of the Kawarthas. At its core, it’s about making sure people experiencing homelessness or significant barriers have somewhere to go where they can be safe, meet their immediate needs and, connect with supports that can help them move forward. Located on Peel Street, the space provides overnight accommodations, meals, showers, laundry, basic necessities, housing support, service navigation and access to technology. Community partners come directly into the Hub to provide healthcare, income supports, housing outreach and other services. Instead of expecting someone in crisis to navigate multiple systems and appointments across the community, the HUB tris to bring those systems together around the person.

Kristal Jones-Craighead, Community Integrated Care Hub director, said the building has seen more than 90 unique individuals accessing essential services. Photo: Sienna Frost.

Different organizations come in on different days, including community paramedics and there’s a spot where guests can access virtual court support once a week. Kristal Jones-Craighead, Community Integrated Care Hub director, said it can be hard for a lot of people to ask for help, by providing services, like wound care and midwives, it makes it easier for that first step to be taken.

Those who are looking to stay overnight sign up at 6 p.m. and need to check in at 7:30 p.m. It is first come, first serve and 12 beds are available, however, meals, showers, laundry and other services, are available for anyone.

Since opening in April, the Hub has had more than 1,000 overnight stays, and more than 90 unique individuals access the program. “I think it demonstrates how much services like this are needed, and how successful this model can be,” said JonesCraighead.

There is also a mix of triage being done when it comes to deciding who gets a bed each night, “being low barrier means meeting the most vulnerable people in our community and meeting people where they’re at and understanding that not everybody can keep track of the time,” Jones-Craighead said.

Anything guests have with them gets put away into a supervised area overnight. “What we are seeing is folks are sleeping through the night, they’re not having to be mounted up on their belongings,” Jones-Craighead said. One of the things Jones-Craighead is most proud of is how guests respect the space. “One of the clearest ways that’s indicated to me that the people who stay here are taking pride in the space, and appreciate the space, and the community we’re building is that (there’s) not any graffiti (on the walls).” They also have a quiet room where guests have a space for themselves. “If things get escalated, it also gives us a tool to be able to support people in the moment rather than just resort to restrictions or just telling somebody to calm down,” Jones-Craighead said. Currently, an accessibility ramp is being built as well as a privacy fence and covered seating area. “There will be a place for people to gather (outside) that’s dignified,” Jones-Craighead said. The goal of the Hub is to create a safe space for those in need. “Some folks have been living rough for so long that they’re not ready to open up yet, and they just need some stabilization and support before they can take that next step. We’re here to identify and make those assessments and meet people where they’re at, so we can start the good work of helping.” While there’s still a long way to go, Jones-Craighead is glad to see the conversation around those on the streets has begun to change; she hopes the Hub can continue to encourage positive conversations to happen. “I really appreciate that the focus is less on the perceived individual failings of people who are struggling, and rather we’re looking at the bigger systemic issues and changes that we can implement as a community.” LA

Suzanne McKay, program facilitator, JonesCraighead, and Maureen Kitching, resource worker. Photo: Sienna Frost.

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JUST BECAUSE WE CAN, SHOULD WE? By Tod Ward

FOR YEARS, SMALL BUSINESSES have operated with one fairly dependable constraint: there are only so many hours in the day.You could have 20 ideas for promoting your business, but realistically, you might have time to execute three. You could dream up a dozen new services, research five of them, and perhaps launch one. Time, money, and people forced businesses to choose. Artificial intelligence is starting to change that equation. Suddenly, producing the first draft of a newsletter takes minutes. So does generating 30 social media ideas, outlining a new service, creating a customer survey, or turning meeting notes into an action plan. That sounds like an obvious win. Often, it is. But it introduces a new problem: what happens when creating things becomes easier than deciding whether they need to exist? We are already surrounded by businesses communicating constantly. Our inboxes fill with promotions. Social feeds refresh endlessly. Every purchase generates a request for a review. Every interaction seems capable of producing another notification, follow-up or piece of content. AI gives businesses the ability to add considerably more to that pile, which is very tempting. For a small business owner, though, the advantage may not come from producing the most. It comes from using the tools to give yourself more time to focus your attention on what truly matters. Maybe you can send a weekly email, but will your customers get tired of the noise? Maybe AI can generate five blog posts this afternoon, but could your time be better spent writing one thoughtful article that’s genuinely more valuable to your audience?

That is where AI may quietly change the job of a business owner. For a long time, much of running a business has been about figuring out how to get everything done. Increasingly, the harder skill may be deciding what not to do.

That is where AI may quietly change the job of a business owner. AI can give a small team capabilities that would have been difficult to imagine even a few years ago. That is exciting, particularly for independent businesses that have always had to accomplish a lot with limited resources. But unlimited output isn’t the same thing as unlimited attention. Ours is still finite. So is our customers’. The businesses that use AI well may not be the ones that suddenly do everything; they may be the ones that finally have the capacity to do fewer things better.

A note on AI: This article was developed through human-AI collaboration. The ideas, perspective and final judgement are mine. I used AI as a thinking partner to challenge the argument, explore connections, develop the structure and help shape the writing.

As a leader in AI-focused projects, Tod is exploring how businesses can adopt AI thoughtfully and ethically to improve their practices and productivity while protecting the value and role of the people behind the work.

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WILCOX ARCHITECTS CELEBRATES 40 YEARS IN BUSINESS Forty years is quite a milestone. In that period, Wilcox Architects completed more than 2,500 projects with a total construction value of more than 400 million at their Lindsay based practice, with individual project valued at more than $8 million. Glenn Wilcox, a registered professional architect and owner of the firm, has managed all this work during this time. Currently there are seven staff to see your project needs are met on time and on budget. As a local practice, Wilcox Architects offers its clients a more personal service for development advice, project feasibility, rezoning/official plan amendments, design, site plan approvals, construction drawings for permit, tender and site review services to manage construction activities. Their project experience encompasses residential (both single family homes and multi-residential), commercial, institutional and industrial type facilities – new and additions /renovations. They also provide repair and maintenance work for many of their institutional clients, including Trillium Lakelands District School Board, Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington District School Board, City of Kawartha Lakes, as well as facilities for Women’s Resources and A Place Called Home.

Currently, they have five new daycare projects underway for completion by the end of this year. All have a demanding timeframe to design and obtain all the approvals needed. Even their offices at 74 Lindsay Street South are unique. Two existing heritage buildings were renovated and connected together to meet their expanding needs. Wilcox Architects would like to thank all their past clients over the last 40 years for their support and welcome new project clients as well. Please feel free to drop by and talk to Wilcox to see how Wilcox Architects can help you move your building project forward. Call 705-328-0175 or email wilcox.off@gmail.com.

Glenn Wilcox, owner of the firm, said the business is thankful for all the support they’ve received throughout their 40 years of business. Photo: Robyn Best.

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FEATURE

Vital Signs • feature

Getting to work: Transportation and low wages stall Kawartha Lakes’ economy Analyzing 11 major indicators of community wellbeing through Vital Signs By Mike Puffer Illustrations by Ruth Kelly-Koebel

here may be decent jobs out there, but good salaries and solid benefits aren’t of any use if you can’t get to work. All too often, that is the case for local residents frustrated by a lack of transportation options currently offered in the geographically large but sparsely populated Kawartha Lakes. Reliable transportation – whether it be an effective city-wide public transit system or the capability for people to afford vehicles – is one of the key factors preventing many people in Kawartha Lakes from achieving solid jobs. (Scarcity of decent employment opportunities are also high on the list.) The Kawartha Community Foundation’s recent overview of the community identifies transit and high costs of living as barriers to employment to many residents.

Earlier this year, the foundation and Kawartha Works Community Co-operative published the first local Vital Signs. Comprised of 11 major indicators of community wellbeing, the report collectively presents information and data that can be used as a tool for future strategic planning and decision-making by city council, local service providers, businesses and organizations large and small. The indicators are intrinsically linked, and influential factors that play important roles in the lives of Kawartha Lakes citizens cut across most, if not all sections of Vital Signs. The Work & the Economy portion of the report examines the many economic roadblocks for a large portion of the population seeking employment locally.

“Transportation is at the top of my list of employment barriers here,” says Christine Bone, employer liaison with VCCS Employment Services. VCCS helps connect people seeking employment, and employers looking for reliable workers. “We have jobs come up in our system, and we advocate for people to get the jobs, but if they can’t get to work, it limits their ability to be employed,” Bone continues. City decision makers acknowledge the need for enhanced transit service in Kawartha Lakes. In August, council received a draft plan for expanded public transit that would enhance bus service in Lindsay as well as introduce routes between other Kawartha Lakes communities including Fenelon Falls and Bobcaygeon. Connections to neighbouring municipalities such as Peterborough and Oshawa are also part of the plan, and the regional transit master plan for the next decade includes strategic development for links to rail services provided by VIA Rail and GO Transit. Presentation of the transit master plan received positive reaction from many, including Bethany-area resident Randy Neals, who has long been promoting connections from Lindsay to Omemee and onward to Peterborough. His proposal, “The Kawartha Connector” is to establish a useful regional trunk line, then design a rural microtransit system as a feeder into a much larger destination network. “It’s been something that I’ve been advocating for the past several years,” Neals says. “Regional transit has been in decline in the past 20 or more years, as we know. Remember when VIA Rail ran from Toronto to Peterborough, with a stop in Pontypool? I knew people who lived in Bethany and Pontypool and commuted to jobs in Toronto on the daily train. But not now.”

Vital Signs states that with fewer working-age residents and a dispersed population, Kawartha Lakes has challenges to attract businesses that could drive economic development.

Vital Signs states that with fewer working-age residents and a dispersed population, Kawartha Lakes has challenges to attract businesses that could drive economic development. We have a low participation rate of workers (less than 55 per cent of residents are employed, the provincial average is 63 per cent). This work imbalance is due to the significant number of retirees who live here. The topheavy older population means that the municipality must continually strive to be competitive and attractive to workers in order to generate tax revenue. The five largest employment categories in Kawartha Lakes reflects local demographics. Jobs in the fields of healthcare and social assistance lead the list, followed by retail trade, public administration, accommodation and food service, and educational services. Though a smaller sector, the highest percentage of growth from 2022 to 2025 was seen in arts, entertainment and recreation. The report says that such growth in those sectors, along with financial and insurance, is critical to make Kawartha Lakes attractive to tourists, visitors and an expanded workforce. “We have a community that is well-served, but economically narrow with implications for youth retention, wage growth and long-term financial sustainability,” the report states. What could attract working-age people to consider locating in our municipality? Good paying jobs and opportunities for advancement, say VCCS officials. “I’ve seen people leave Lindsay because they can’t find better quality of jobs here,” Bone says. “You can’t get much full-time work in the retail sector here. Employers don’t want to pay the wages that people are hoping to get, so what results is often part-time jobs, without benefits.” That has led to cases of clients working multiple part-time jobs, which can severely affect their family situations and work-life balance.

“Sometimes I’m so frustrated, it’s like we’re going nowhere, just spinning our wheels trying to help people find good jobs,” Bone says. She chooses to take a guardedly optimistic approach to the recent announcement that a Walmart store has been confirmed for Lindsay. “I hope that Walmart will come to VCCS to get people employed, and to ingratiate the company into the community,” Bone says. “We (VCCS) could hold a job fair, put our clients forward, and start a working relationship with the company. We will wait and see and hope that Walmart will provide jobs and work so that it’s local people who get employed.” Eunice Tubman, VSSC employment counsellor, also cautions against thinking that “big box” stores will necessarily be the answer to the community’s economic challenges. “There has to be flexibility from both sides,” Tubman explains. “Clients must be willing to try to fit the employer’s needs, but the employer must be patient, allow an employee to grow into a role. There are sometimes unrealistic expectations on both sides.”

What would have made a significant difference in many local residents’ financial challenges? The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) program piloted in Kawartha Lakes in 2017 but scrapped by the incoming Progressive Conservative government of Doug Ford, soon after they took power.

In addition to lack of transportation for people unable to access the Lindsay Transit system, considerable housing costs make finding a job prohibitive. Tubman says that many VCCS clients are “unhoused,” and employers are often reluctant to take on such individuals. Just as suitable and affordable transportation is a constant need for many, economic challenges are ongoing for many residents, including Lindsay resident Susan, who lives with her elderly mother in subsidized housing. Susan (name changed in respect of privacy) is 67 years old and deals with chronic health problems preventing her from working, and which require her regular use of transportation services from Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes and other providers. She receives about $1,900 a month in Canada Pension and Old Age Supplement support and her mother also receives government benefits. “My savings were gone a long time ago,” Susan says. “When I moved in with my mom I was hoping to work parttime and (that I) would be able to claim caregiver benefits. But when I became disabled, I wasn’t able to claim taxable benefits, because I don’t have an income to offset any such claims.” She spends more than $500 each month on transportation services. What would have made a significant difference in many local residents’ financial challenges? The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) program piloted in Kawartha Lakes in 2017 but scrapped by the incoming Progressive Conservative government of Doug Ford, soon after they took power. Lindsay resident Dana Bowman is adamant that the basic income program was worth implementing. She was one of almost 2,000 Kawartha Lakes residents who were registered for the BIG trial. Initiated by the provincial Liberal government in 2017 in three areas including Kawartha Lakes, the trial was supposed to run for three years. Basic income participants would receive up to $16,899 annually for a single person, less than 50 per cent of any earned income. Bowman, who has been on a long-term disability pension for many years, was starting to see how the basic income payments were making a difference for her after only a few months. She pays approximately $600 per month for rent and receives $1,900 per month in disability support. Though her rent charge would have increased with BIG payments, the monthly $2,000 BIG payments would have left her with more than enough to be further ahead. “I would have been able to afford healthy food, plus what I need for chronic health challenges.”

Bowman has always taken initiative to source out services that are available. “I was determined and strong to find out what was out there.” Before moving to Kawartha Lakes many years ago, she accessed skills training programs and achieved her high school equivalency diploma. She volunteers with various local non-profit organizations to help others and keep active, informed and to reap the benefits that such involvement can provide. The financial challenges, though, are ongoing. “I actually forget what roast beef tastes like. I would just like to be able to enjoy a simple Sunday dinner, with leftovers for the next few days.” Instead, she can only afford cheaper groceries and has to be careful and prudent when shopping. Basic income payments ended for people like Bowman by March 2019. Vital Signs concludes the Work & the Economy indicator by looking at local wages. Minimum wage in Ontario increased to $17.95 per hour this month. The Ontario Living Wage Network calls for $22.40 as a living wage for Kawartha Lakes.

Municipal Minute Our staff see every day how much our community depends on our paramedics. They also see the challenges our teams face working from several repurposed buildings that were never designed for a modern emergency service.

Doug Elmslie, Mayor

The new Paramedic Headquarters and Fleet Centre in Lindsay will bring operations together in one purpose-built facility. It will improve how they prepare vehicles and equipment for service and provide appropriate space for team members. It will strengthen emergency preparedness through backup 911 communication capacity and critical IT infrastructure. We know the $50 million cost is significant. That cost covers the construction of the facility, unexpected costs, emergency systems and technology, professional services, and specialized equipment. The $50 million project will be financed over 30 years. Development Charges will cover 30% of annual debt repayments. Taxpayer costs will be reduced by an estimated $350 thousand per year Provincial Operating Grant, which will continue for the 70 year life of the building.

“Some of Kawartha Lakes largest industry employers fall short of living wages. Roughly 3,500 occupations, or roughly 14 per cent of the labour force, work in occupations where the median hourly wage is below a living wage,” the report states. LA

Next month: An examination of one of the fastest-growing employment sectors and areas of local interest: Arts & Culture.

Mike Puffer has lived and worked in Lindsay all of his adult life. Retired since 2022, he is heavily involved in the community as a volunteer with many local organizations, and enjoys golfing, biking, hiking and travelling with his wife Cathy. 38

This is an investment in the future of paramedic care in Kawartha Lakes and in our ability to serve a growing community for decades to come.

Paramedic Headquarters

FEATURE

City Matters • feature

The choice behind the choice How voters navigate a five-way mayoral race By Randy Neals | Analyst

y the time a Kawartha Lakes voter chooses one name for mayor this October, four other names may already have been eliminated in their mind. One candidate may have been ruled out over taxes, another over roads or development. Municipal experience may matter most to one voter, while another may put more weight on governing style, local priorities or a desire for change. Long before the ballot is cast, five candidates may have become three, or perhaps two. Ron Ashmore, Mathew Flynn, Doug Ford, David Korn and Charles McDonald are the five certified candidates for mayor. Voting begins at 9 a.m. Oct. 16 and closes at 8 p.m. Oct. 26. The mechanics are straightforward. The psychology behind the choice is more complicated.

The first cut Political scientists have a term for one way people simplify a crowded electoral choice: the “consideration set.” Rather than weighing every candidate equally until voting day, a voter may first decide which candidates are worthy of serious consideration and eliminate those they are unlikely to support. The final decision is then made from the smaller group that remains. In a five-person race, the idea is easy to understand. A voter may not begin by asking, “Which of these five people is my perfect candidate?” The more practical question may be, “Which of these five could I realistically support?” That first cut could happen for many reasons. Taxes and municipal spending may dominate for some residents, while others may focus on roads, development, health care or growth. Experience provides another obvious dividing line. Ashmore represents Ward 6 on council and McDonald represents Ward 7. Flynn, Ford and Korn are not members of the current council. One voter may see municipal experience as useful preparation for the mayor’s office. Another may see a candidate from outside the current council as offering a greater break from the existing direction of city hall. Either way, five candidates can quickly become a much shorter personal list.

A different mayoralty This election also comes with an institutional change voters did not face the last time they chose a mayor. Kawartha Lakes received Ontario’s strong mayor powers effective Nov. 1, 2023. The framework gives the mayor added authority in areas including the chief administrative officer, certain senior staffing and organizational decisions, the municipal budget, some council committees and written direction to municipal staff.

There is no clear evidence that those promised savings produced a lasting reduction in the cost of municipal government for taxpayers. That does not tell voters what qualities they should value, but it does mean the office being filled in 2026 is different from the one residents voted on in 2022. For some voters, that may make municipal experience more important. Others may put more weight on governing style, judgment or how a candidate is likely to use the powers of the office. 39

The second choice that is not on the ballot

A crowded race is nothing new

Kawartha Lakes voters do not rank candidates for mayor. They select one, and the candidate with the most votes is elected.

Kawartha Lakes has seen this kind of electoral math before.

But voters can still carry an unofficial ranking in their heads. There may be a favourite. There may also be another candidate they could comfortably support, along with others they have already ruled out. That psychological second choice becomes more interesting when another question enters the calculation: Who can actually win? Imagine a voter who prefers Candidate A but would also be comfortable with Candidate B. If that voter comes to believe A has little chance of finishing first while B appears competitive, the decision may change.

Six candidates ran for mayor in 2022. Doug Elmslie was elected with 7,982 votes, or 35 per cent of votes cast for mayoral candidates. Pat Dunn received 23 per cent and Kathleen Seymour-Fagan received 17 per cent, with the remaining votes divided among three other candidates. Overall voter turnout was 32 per cent. Those figures do not predict the 2026 result. They simply illustrate how a plurality contest works: a candidate does not need more than half the votes to finish first. In 2022, nearly 65 per cent of mayoral candidate votes went to people other than the person who was elected.

Do they stay with their favourite, or support the acceptable alternative?

That helps explain why a candidate’s broader acceptability may matter alongside the number of residents who consider that person their first choice.

Political scientists generally describe the second behaviour as strategic or tactical voting.

The usual campaign question is: How many voters most want Candidate A?

Canadian research has found evidence of strategic voting in plurality elections, but it has also found many voters remain with their preferred candidate even when a tactical alternative exists. Much of that research comes from federal or provincial party politics, so it helps explain the psychology but cannot tell us how Kawartha Lakes residents will vote. Who is actually competitive?

Who is actually competitive? Strategic voting also creates a practical problem. Before voters can react to who appears capable of winning, they need some basis for deciding who is competitive.

One candidate may seem prominent because lawn signs are everywhere. Another may attract a large crowd. Someone may appear frequently in a voter’s social-media feed, while another may simply be the name friends and neighbours mention most often. In a crowded race, another question may matter too: How many voters who prefer somebody else would still be comfortable with Candidate A?

That may be easier said than done.

Official election results answer the first question. They never answer the second.

The decision before the decision

Those things can show visibility, organization or enthusiasm. They do not necessarily measure support across the electorate. A forest of campaign signs is not a scientific poll. Neither is Facebook. Without reliable polling, voters trying to judge who is viable may be relying largely on impressions. That creates an unusual loop: some voters may make decisions partly on who they think other people will support, while those other people may be trying to make exactly the same calculation. Who appears to be leading and who is actually leading are not necessarily the same thing. 40

Even the ballot leaves some information out. Kawartha Lakes says incumbent status will not be identified, and candidate names will be listed alphabetically by surname. A voter who already knows Ashmore and McDonald are sitting councillors brings that information to the ballot. Someone who does not know will not learn it there. Two residents can therefore look at exactly the same five names while bringing very different amounts of information to the choice. For some Kawartha Lakes voters, choosing the next mayor may ultimately involve a series of questions: Which candidates deserve serious consideration? What matters most to me? Which candidates best match those priorities?

Two residents can therefore look at exactly the same five names while bringing very different amounts of information to the choice. Which of them would I be comfortable seeing as mayor? Does my preferred candidate appear competitive? And, if not, does that matter enough to change my vote? Other residents may have settled on a candidate long before voting begins and have no intention of reconsidering. Both routes end at the same place: one vote. When voting closes Oct. 26, the official results will tell us exactly how many votes Ashmore, Flynn, Ford, Korn and McDonald received. They will tell us who became mayor. They will not tell us who voters almost supported, which candidates were eliminated first, which issues changed minds or how many residents considered switching but stayed with their favourite. The ballot records the destination. The more complicated story is how each voter gets there. LA

E L E C T:

RON ASHMORE A Mayor for All the People www.ronashmoreformayor.ca

Elect CHARLES McDONALD FOR MAYOR K AWA RT H A L A K E S Planning for responsible growth Respecting taxpayers Fixing roads, bridges and infrastructure Supporting rural communities and local businesses Protecting quality of life

Common sense leadership for Kawartha Lakes Leadership that listens Planning that works Results that matter 41

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FEATURE

City Matters • feature

After dark, at 68 Lindsay Street North By Jason Ward

The city filled 68 Lindsay Street North with those most likely to die without housing, then confirmed in its own reports that they need care around the clock. It has never given that care a budget line we can find. Now, rather than fund the care, it is quietly changing the building. Those asking to be your mayor owe you an answer.

he low-slung institution where Lindsay meets Queen holds two worlds beneath its solar-panelled roof. Red brick, grey stone bays, four windows to each face, flora placed like punctuation, nothing in bloom – deliberately plain. A building meant not to be noticed. In one world, the city’s Human Services department, where the housing crisis keeps business hours. In the other, 24 apartments for those the city has called “at highest-risk of death if not housed.” Lindsay’s settled story for this building is disorder, addiction and fear. The city’s records preserve a harder one: a building opened without the care later called essential. Declared a success 13 months before a shooting; changed once, now marked for a second change. The whole of it sits in the penumbra of the public record, unassembled and undeclared.

A cornerstone, poured late At the 2017 groundbreaking, the mayor of the day said affordable housing “must be the cornerstone of any poverty reduction plan.” Benevolent ambition: shelter for the hardest to house. The budget was $8 million. By October 2017, council had approved $12.3 million, a rise one councillor called “the continuous bait and switch approach,” while the only shovels in the dirt were digging out contamination. The doors opened in June 2019, a year behind the promise.

What the City knew, and when Three months after tenants moved in, council received a three-year Trent University study of the scattered-site program that preceded 68 Lindsay: two caseworkers supporting 45 people in whatever housing they had, with care following them. It worked. By then, the city had already housed two dozen of its most vulnerable residents at 68 Lindsay, people left destitute, many by drugs, under a budget that, the housing manager acknowledged in 2023, “meant that on-site intensive case management services could not be provided 24/7 as originally planned.” Within months of opening, a mother petitioned to make it a rehab centre. She had lost her son to an overdose; her partner, living in the building, had relapsed. The city’s answer was “Housing First” doctrine, a roof before recovery. “It’s a ‘Housing First’ approach, not a program,” the director of human services said. In December 2020, the city declared victory. “We know the model works,” its housing corporation’s head concluded. Guards arrived in 2021; still no night shift of care. The victory had scarcely a year in it.

The excuses were real: grants that ran short, then the pandemic, services closed, staff short, an eviction freeze holding dangerous tenancies. None of it explains seven years of nights without care. The city held a truer measure: the 2016 caseworker program it had been running, vindicated by its own study. It graded itself against the street instead, where any roof clears the bar.

Seven hundred police visits In 2021, Lindsay’s police attended the address 716 times, nearly twice a day. Some visits, the chief said, were routine outreach. In October 2021, hundreds of locals filled the armoury, where a woman said that, her husband away, she wore a car alarm and carried a knife. A tick before 10 at night on Jan. 30, 2022, police responded to a shooting at the building. The victim survived. “We responded immediately and arrested a guest of one of the residents,” the chief said. Weeks later the security firm quit, citing the law: “It’s the inability to restrict access ... because it is a residential building and covered by the landlord and tenant act.” The city had gathered people with the least protection under one roof and posted sentries at a gate the law held open.

The excuses were real: grants that ran short, then the pandemic, services closed, staff short, an eviction freeze holding dangerous tenancies. None of it explains seven years of nights without care.

A confession, received In May 2022 an in-house report, Supportive Housing Update, went to council, whose entire response was “received,” municipal procedure at its most anodyne. Inside, the city’s own assessment: the supports were “insufficient,” the “congregation of those with the highest acuity” compounding it. The trenchant sentence: “Regardless of the implementation of a new housing model, those with the most complex challenges require a supportive housing model with 24/7 on-site clinical supports.” “Clinical” went undefined until city housing staff gave it shape: “low-barrier primary care, mental health and addiction supports, along with 24/7 housing support staff.”

The city had gathered people with the least protection under one roof and posted sentries at a gate the law held open. The report attached no money to its prescription. The building half got built and paid for, nearly a million past the final approved budget at last report, the file closed, no single final cost we could find. The care half has never seen a budget line we can find. The only remainder was “ongoing advocacy,” the report’s phrase. Four years on we can find no request to the province to fund that round-the-clock care at 68 Lindsay, nor any answer. For tenants, that kind of advocacy is indistinguishable from none.

In spring 2022, report on the table, security gone, shooting on the record, the city hit reset. It hired new guards, changed the daytime caseworkers’ agency and, freeze now lifted, evicted tenants: for harm to others, for help refused and, in the city’s words, for needing “services that were not available.” Police visits fell by about a quarter, paramedic calls by more than half. The reset’s cost was recorded by the city itself: the changes, its housing staff wrote in 2023, “displaced several people who don’t currently have any available options for alternative housing or emergency shelter.” No record we found says where the displaced went.

The quiet rewrite The rewrite began, unannounced, in 2022. That spring’s report proposed a new model for new tenants: “sub-letting,” renting until the lease became theirs, “participation in supports” the expectation. Provincial permission for the change came by fall. A 2023 news report, drawn from city housing officials, spelled it out: mandatory participation, with “a compliance component.” The building has run two-tier since, absorbing units as tenants turn over. The city calls the result “viable and low barrier.” The building’s most consequential decision may be one line on slide 12 of a September 2025 budget deck, carried by no press release we can find: “68 Lindsay Street North – Service Delivery Model Change = Transitional Housing.” In city nomenclature, transitional housing means temporary housing. Weeks later, a council report answered what it means: tenants “ready to move on” are “taking up spaces.” A new priority moves existing tenants out, up the list into subsidized housing elsewhere. Who gets in has changed, too: the building erected for those likeliest to die without housing now takes, by design, people of somewhat lower acuity and needs. The care was never funded. The population was adjusted instead. Remember the armoury: “There must be conditions around their stay there...,” the woman demanded. She got her wish. Within a year, participation became the price of a tenancy. The report that set the conditions categorized the care as essential. The conditions arrived. The care never did.

Lay the record end to end: aroundthe-clock case management planned, daytime hours delivered; 24/7 clinical supports prescribed “regardless” of the model; 24/7 support staff called for again in 2023. The name keeps changing; the conclusion never has. The people at 68 Lindsay need support at night. No version of it appears in any budget we could find. The city has said so since 2022, and each budget since has kept the lacuna where the care should be. What began as a mistake is now policy. Seven years, two models, three names for the care never given.

Four years on we can find no request to the province to fund that round-theclock care at 68 Lindsay, nor any answer. The question for October The building known as 68 Lindsay is one structure. Around it, homelessness in the city’s service area is projected, without intervention, to more than triple in a decade. The city’s answer is a 10-year strategy, approved “in principle” last fall. “In principle” is what a council says when it likes the plan but has not seen the bill. The costing was due in June. The city’s latest report moves it to 2027, past the election, for “the newly elected Councils.” Same promise, bigger cheque. The strategy’s financial recommendations land in the 2027 budget, the first the new mayor and council will write. We can find no forecast for the building’s change, nor a plan to pay for it. We have heard no candidate name this address. The city’s report requires the night shift “regardless” of the model. The supports now run on extended daytime hours, seven days. Overnight, a security company holds the building. Four years after the city’s report prescribed clinical care around the clock, still the night belongs

Jason Ward, formerly a certified specialist in civil litigation, is a lifelong resident focused on public welfare and institutional responsibility. He is an occasional feature writer for the Advocate and a columnist for Advocate Online on mental health.

The Mindful Move to a guard. In 2023 the province raised the city’s homelessness allocation by $1.1 million a year, money provincial rules let it spend on nursing and addictions support in supportive housing. The City sent $700,000 of that money to a twelve-bed hub on Peel Street. What no one has yet paid for is care through the night at 68 Lindsay. Sentries are not care.

Ask every candidate, before you vote:

The city has remade 68 Lindsay Street North once without saying so plainly, and more change is coming. What it has never done is staff the night with care. Will you? Name the year, and whose budget: the city’s or the province’s.

The next council will finish the change or stop it. Finishing it means conditions without the care the city called essential. When tenants fail, where do they go? Last time the door tightened, the city’s staff recorded the displaced. Stopping it restores nothing; both roads lead to the care. Funded, either model can defend itself. Unfunded, the town has seen the result: 2021, 700 police visits, a knife in a pocket. The outgoing mayor points at senior governments. Merely pointing names no year and no plan. The philosophies diverge. The empty night shift does not. Little here was unknowable. Most was written down, and what the city knew it learned at its own door. This October, ask who means to keep a light on after closing. The city’s silence need not be ours. LA

- with Nicole Naylor

You Don't Have to Downsize All at Once When people think about downsizing, they often picture the whole process at once. Sorting through years of belongings. Finding a new home. Preparing the current one for sale and of course, moving. It can feel like a lot; and that's often enough to make someone put it off altogether. But downsizing doesn't have to happen all at once. You don't need to make every decision today. In fact, you don't even need to know if you're going to move yet. You can start by simply becoming curious. What would your home be worth? What would a smaller home actually look like? What areas might suit the way you live now? What would you want more, or less, of in your next home? You might start with decluttering one closet, or a basement shelf. You might have a conversation with your family about what they may or may not want to take with them. You might simply take some time to understand your options. None of these things commit you to a move. They simply give you information. Information has a way of making big decisions feel a little less overwhelming. When you give yourself time to explore, you can make decisions at your own pace rather than trying to figure everything out when a move suddenly becomes necessary. A Mindful Move doesn't have to begin with a moving truck. Sometimes it begins with a question, a conversation, or one small step toward understanding what's possible. Mindful Takeaway: You don't have to figure out the whole journey. Just give yourself permission to take the next step.

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705-341-2458 • naylor@revelrealty.ca

What’s happening at Kawartha Lakes Public Library this October! Financial Workshops Join financial professional Aamir Amla for free financial workshops: October 1 at 5:30 pm | Bobcaygeon Branch October 8 and 22 at 2 pm | Fenelon Falls Branch

Plant, Seed and Puzzle Swaps Share and discover something new at our community swaps! Swap, share and discover something new in your community! Plant Swap: October 3, Bobcaygeon Branch Seed Swap: October 6 and 7, Dunsford Branch Puzzle Swap: October 22, Omemee Branch Plant Swap: October 23, Lindsay Branch

Kawartha Lakes LoreTalks

“Guiding Families Forward”

Friday, September 18 | 2:30pm to 3:30pm | Lindsay Branch Discover the stories, people, places, and events that have shaped Kawartha Lakes. Join us for an engaging look at our local history.

Chantel Lawton Barrister | Solicitor | Notary Public

Accredited Family Mediation Services & Collaborative Law

705-878-9949 www.chantellawton.com 189 Kent St. W., Suite 220 Lindsay, Ontario 46

How to Use OnLand October 29 from 6–8 pm | Lindsay Branch Learn how to use OnLand, the virtual Land Registry Office, with Emily Turner, City of Kawartha Lakes Economic Development Officer – Heritage Planning. Registration required; please email: eturner@kawarthalakes.ca.

Media Literacy Week: Why Local Journalism Matters October 29 from 6–7:30 pm | Lindsay Branch Join Roderick Benns of The Lindsay Advocate for a moderated conversation about the importance of local journalism and how local media helps us understand the issues affecting our community.

Stay Connected! Subscribe to our newsletters at kawarthalakeslibrary.ca.

SPLITTING THE ATOM

by Joan Corrigan

By Joan Corrigan, Fun & Done Crosswords

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ACROSS 1. Takes a break 14 15 16 6. Purses 17 18 19 10. Legislative assistant 20 21 22 14. Rub out 15. Natural colour of linen 23 24 25 26 27 16. Appeal to a deity 28 29 30 31 32 17. 1,000 kg 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 18. Greek god of Love 19. Vatican city 40 41 42 20. Sum up 43 44 45 46 21. *Subatomic particles used to 47 48 49 50 split uranium atoms 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 23. Gushing hot spring, as in Yellowstone Park 58 59 60 61 27. Home of the flamenco 62 63 64 65 28. Tiny round vegetable 66 67 68 29. Removable shoe lining 69 70 71 33. *Country that is world's largest producer of uranium, Canada being second-largest 33. New Zealand bird or fuzzy DOWN 39. Deep-sleep stage fruit 1. Put a new sale price on a 40. Graphic symbol 34. Citric ___ (in limes and product 41. Sheaf of notepaper lemons) 2. Wear away gradually, as 42. Stitched line that joins two 35. Geographic area shorelines fabrics 36. Health resort 3. Like a beach 43. Have a victory 37. File folder flap 4. Canada's national sports 44. *Science room where natural 38. Kerfuffle channel uranium is processed into 42. Recipe direction 5. Look enriched uranium 44. Soup legumes 6. "___ there, done that!" 47. Form thoughts 45. Decay 7. Parcels of land 50. Kimono sash 46. ___ Dhabi, part of the United 8. Bunch of people 51. 'Wheel of Fortune' letter-turner Arab Emirates 9. Keep something going over White 48. Newfoundland's ___ Peninsula time 54. Reptile with a shell 49. Tic-___-toe 10. Chefs' garments 58. *Nuclear plants, informally 52. Having nodes 11. Press clothes 61. That boy 53. Smell of fresh coffee 12. Beaver-built barriers 62. Small medicine bottle 55. “To ___ own self be true” 13. Hurricane centre 63. Object of worship 22. Classic TV dog ___ Tin Tin 56. Sheets and pillowcases 64. Paris river 57. Manicurist's board 24. Length of a bridge 66. In addition to 25. Scream upon seeing a mouse 58. Provoke to anger 67. Limping 59. "At ___, soldier." (relax!) in the kitchen 68. Deed holder 60. Killed a dragon 26. Stadium cheer 69. Adolescent 30. Black-and-white round cookie 62. Tub 70. Cabbage salad 31. “King ___” (Shakespeare) 64. Mother pig 71. Teeny-___ (very small) 32. TV acting award 65. Mother sheep

• Crossword solutions on page 48 •

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R E T A G

E R O D E

S A N D Y

46 YEARS EXPERIENCE

T S S E N E

B E E N

A C R E S

G R O U P

S A I D E U P R A Y S R O M E T R O N S A I N I N S O L E S T A N R E M P A D S E A M A B O R A T O R Y O B I N A T U R T L E O R S H I M D O L S E I N E A M E O W N E R L A W W E E N Y

S E R And great new features!

Crossword Solution

Celebrating 27 yearsof YUM! 1037 LITTLE BRITAIN ROAD, LITTLE BRITAIN 48

by Joan Corrigan © Fun & Done Crosswords

K A I C W I I D R V I A L T E

P E Z A K O N N E A T V A E A C A L S O E N

A H

L E N T I L S

Are we doomed? YOU SAW THE IMAGES. That three-story wall of water and debris obliterating Himalayan villages, bridges, roads, homes, forests and mountain sides. Thousands died or are missing. The trigger? A landslide driven by glacier collapse. Increasingly, glaciers are crumbling around the world. One buried a Swiss village last year. Another killed 11 mountain climbers in Italy in 2022. We are not immune. In 2012, a glacier collapse caused a mini-tsunami near Jasper. It washed over a parking lot and many kilometres of trails - luckily in the middle of the night. These incidents are increasing as global warming accelerates. A recent study confirmed faster warming over the last 10 years than in any previous decade. That supercharged warming came with overlapping catastrophes this summer. Killer heat and fires throughout Europe. Northern Ontario’s fires and smoke. Massive flooding in Texas, Japan, Spain and Germany, and in Ontario’s Niagara region. Some say to expect those peach prices to go up next year. “We are indeed seeing the consequences of climate inaction,” climate scientist Michael Mann told CNN recently. It’s the new abnormal. Temperatures will keep rising, along with catastrophes, as long as we keep releasing fossil fuel pollution. Some say it’s too late to do anything. Others say chillax, we have time. Both beliefs result in delayed action, or no action at all. Thanks to our southern neighbour, countries, including Canada, are reversing climate policies. That’s not to say nothing good is happening. Last year, 42 per cent of the world’s electricity came from clean sources like wind, solar and nuclear. Worldwide, investment in renewable energy was double investment in fossil fuels. The number of people working in the clean energy sector has topped employment in the oil, gas and coal sectors for several years.

China’s rapid adoption of electric vehicles and solar has helped considerably. As a result, in August the chair of the country’s biggest oil refinery said China’s oil demand “very likely peaked” last year. Meanwhile, the Carney government is supporting the expansion of fossil fuel pipelines and production – against the advice of climate scientists and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. Three years ago, he said fossil fuel production is “incompatible with human survival”. In addition to acting urgently to phase out fossil fuels, Guterres advised that governments boost renewable energy. Recently our federal government did just that. Together with Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, it announced an energy deal that’s expected to unleash enormous amounts of clean, reliable energy and transmission for the Maritimes, Quebec, and possibly Ontario. Studies show that global temperatures will stop rising (though not fall) when we reach zero C02 emissions – that 2050 goal. Expanding oil and gas production puts that goal out of reach. Period. In a worst-case scenario we could be heading for about 4C degrees of warming by 2100. We don’t want to go there. Our current catastrophes happened in a world that’s 1.4C warmer than pre-industrial times. Climate change is worse than scientists hoped, climate scientist Kate Marvel writes. At the same time, clean energy solutions are getting cheaper, faster than expected. “The science is clear about what will happen if we keep spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It’s also clear that the future is still in human hands, and we have everything we need to make it better than expected.”

Ginny Colling was passionate about the environment before retiring from teaching college communications students. After retiring she trained with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. She has presented to numerous groups about the climate crisis.

The Keys brothers, like most boys, eagerly sought adventure on the open road and open water. Bruce cycled out to the family cottage at Snug Harbour on Friday Oct. 22, where he would be joined by Douglas the following evening. On the Sunday morning, Lloyd Davis, a friend of Douglas Keys, spotted the brothers paddling out towards the point where southwestern Sturgeon Lake meets the channel leading into the Scugog River. A few hours later the wind picked up and the waters grew rough. Local boaters avoided venturing out; although both Douglas and Bruce were said to be experienced canoeists and excellent swimmers, they would never return to Snug Harbour.

A century after their deaths, it is appropriate that we remember not only the Keys brothers, but also the people who stepped up to search for them.

Victoria County’s other canoeing tragedy of 1926

Back at 76 Peel Street, Mrs. Keys, worried about the whereabouts of her sons – whom she expected home on Sunday afternoon after a day of duck-hunting – rang up a Constable Reeves (who incidentally maintained a cottage at Snug Harbour). A search got underway at once, with Const. Reeves driving out to Snug Harbour to make inquiries about the brothers’ whereabouts. By the following morning, a search party comprised of Raney Burke, Lloyd Davis, R.V. Mark, A.T. Porter, Everett Reeves, Ewart Reeves, and Dr. J. Ross were crossing Sturgeon Lake in search of the brothers’ bodies.

n July 20, 1926, 15 members of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew – an Anglican young people’s organization based out of St. James Cathedral in Toronto – set out across Balsam Lake for Coboconk in a war canoe under the watchful eye of their leaders, Arthur H. Lambden and Robert Shea-Butcher. They never made it; Shea-Butcher and 10 of the boys drowned when their massive craft capsized off the coast of Grand Island during a summer squall. The tragic story made headlines across the globe, and has been immortalized in the 2019 period drama film, Brotherhood. More than three months later, another canoeing tragedy – all but forgotten in the annals of local history – would grip the hearts of local residents and see a community pull together in trying circumstances. Brothers Douglas and Bruce Keys drowned on Oct. 24, 1926, while duck-hunting by canoe on Sturgeon Lake. A century after their deaths, it is appropriate that we remember not only the Keys brothers, but also the people who stepped up to search for them. Douglas Keys (sometimes spelled Keyes) was 18 years old and an employee of the Edwards & Co. hardware store in downtown Lindsay. His brother, Bruce, was four years younger and enrolled at Lindsay Collegiate Institute. The Keys clan lived at 76 Peel Street, a short walk east of the high school; the father, W.R. Keys, died in 1925, leaving behind his widow, sons, and a daughter.

This postcard view depicts a pair of canoeists enjoying the waters of Sturgeon Lake nearly 90 years ago. On October 24, 1926, a routine canoe trip across the waters of this lake cost two Lindsay youths their lives. Maryboro Lodge: The Fenelon Museum collection.

Theories abounded about how they might have met their fates that stormy afternoon. Did the recoil motion of their rifles cause their canoe to capsize amid the frothing waters of Sturgeon Lake? Did they lose their balance while retrieving duck decoys, or perhaps a duck itself?

On Tuesday Oct. 26, searchers located Douglas Keys’ cap, and not long thereafter Angus Campbell, an employee of Horn Bros. Woollen Mill, pulled from the water a long rubber boot belonging to Bruce Keys. Nearly 35 men were by this point engaged in the search. Three days later, on Oct. 29, the body of Douglas Keys was recovered in seven feet of water not far from where the duck-hunting blinds were situated. His remains were promptly taken to Lindsay aboard Raney Burke’s yacht, where they were transferred to a hearse at the town wharf.

Did the recoil motion of their rifles cause their canoe to capsize amid the frothing waters of Sturgeon Lake? Did they lose their balance while retrieving duck decoys, or perhaps a duck itself? A solemn funeral service for Douglas Keys took place in the chapel at Riverside Cemetery on Nov. 4, 1926, after which his body was lowered into the vault below. “Does God know? Does God care?” asked the Rev. T.E. Holling,

The headline that brought a community together in solidarity and grief 100 years ago.

minister of Cambridge Street United Church, as he spoke on behalf of a community overcome with grief. The answer, he said, was yes – even in these moments of loss. Though it was hoped the body of Bruce Keys would soon be recovered so the brothers could be buried together, the search went on. Local women provided searchers with ample quantities of coffee, cake, and sandwiches. A local Chevrolet dealer offered up the use of his car to ferry search parties between Lindsay and Snug Harbour. Johnson Paudash, a decorated Ojibwa veteran of the First World War, walked out to Snug Harbour and offered to help. “The lake presented a very cold, gloomy scene. There was absolutely nothing cheerful about its appearance,” intoned a Lindsay Daily Post reporter, who joined the search party on Nov. 12. “The sun was hiding behind a cloud, a somewhat stiff wind was blowing [and] the tall growth of weeds which dotted the water as far as the eye could see bespoke the hazardous nature of the grave which carried off two young lives, and which still clings to one.” And it may still. Fall turned to winter with no sign of Bruce Keys. Was his body never recovered? We may never know. But his memory must be – for as authors Mark Sandle and William Van Arragon argue in their 2019 book Re-forming History: “[historians] seek to bring to life those in the past who have been forgotten...and try to ensure their lives— however short or tragic—are remembered.” LA

The final resting place of Douglas R. Keys is denoted by this flat marker in Lindsay’s Riverside Cemetery, which was almost obscured by sod when the Advocate paid the cemetery a visit. Although Douglas’ brother is mentioned on the marker, his body may have never been recovered. Photo: Ian McKechnie.

Ian McKechnie is a freelance writer, local historian, and researcher who has compiled and edited three books.

OPINION

Trevor’s Take

The dark side of lower prices By Trevor Hutchinson Contributing Editor

I STILL REMEMBER WALKING out of the Century Theatre after seeing Star Wars for the first time. It would have been early 1978. The movie had been out in major Canadian cities since June 1977, but it took time for independent cinemas like the Century to get a 35 mm copy of the film. We didn’t know that. Instantaneous cultural knowledge was not a thing yet. And here I am, almost half a century later, on Kent Street, thinking about the Death Star. But this time that existential machine is not a movie prop. It is Walmart, the largest retailer in the world. And make no mistake: Walmart is the Dark Side. Yoda warned us that the Dark Side was “quicker, easier, more seductive.” For Walmart, the seduction is lower prices. And I get the allure. Prices in general are insane these days. That’s why most people are really excited about it, my own family included.

A lot of the danger arrives from the labour monopsony that Walmart holds. (A monopsony is the exact reverse of a monopoly: it happens when one company is the dominant buyer of something. In a local economy, that “something” is people’s labour.)

In Star Wars, the Empire frequently uses blockades to cut off a planet’s trade routes, starving the inhabitants into submission without firing a single shot. This is the exact threat posed to our downtown. To be sure, independent retailers have spent a lot of effort providing a specialized, experiential shopping experience, which will weather some of the assault. The city can help by upgrading its wayfinding game and doing all in its power to encourage residential occupancies in the downtown core.

Reality!

KITCHENS - COUNTERTOPS - FLOORING CUSTOM HOMES - HOME INSTALLS BATHROOMS - DESIGN CONSULTATIONS

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There is a lot of research into the economic fallout of a Walmart coming to town, often named the “Walmart effect.” A September 2024 study from the IZA Institute of Labor Economics and a recent paper by University of Victoria researcher Justin Wiltshire point out the dangers posed by this planet killer. These findings, confirmed by international studies from Europe and Mexico, highlight the existential danger of this retail juggernaut.

People who say Walmart will improve the local economy are flat out wrong. It has been shown repeatedly that its ability to depress wages and decimate local supply chains has catastrophic effects. Rising poverty, shrinking incomes, an economic shift to low-wage retail, decreased tax revenues and increased public expenses are documented phenomena. Walmart traps the local economy in a malevolent tractor beam. Put simply, lower prices do not offset the overall economic losses.

MAKE YOUR DREAM HOME A

People who say Walmart will improve the local economy are flat out wrong. It has been shown repeatedly that its ability to depress wages and decimate local supply chains has catastrophic effects. But surviving the Empire takes more than just municipal policy and hoping for the best. It requires a conscious choice to support the rebel alliance of local merchants who keep our community’s soul intact. Life has certainly changed since 1978. I just don’t remember people cheering for Darth Vader.

Trevor Hutchinson is a writer, musician and not-for-profit executive. He lives in Lindsay with his wife and three of their children.

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BOOK SALES Tuesdays 10:30 am to 5:00 pm October 20th November 18th *December 16th* Saturdays 10:30 am to 3:00 pm October 24th November 21st *December 12th* Downstairs in the Lindsay Library

Valentia Church & Community Centre Annual Christmas Bazaar, Basket Draw. Craft & Bake Sale Saturday, Nov. 7th, 2026 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Door Prizes, Raffle Draw, Lunch Donations to the Food Bank greatly appreciated.

To advertise in the Advocate contact: Darren at 705-991-3188 Cara at 905-431-4638 53

Photo: Evan Aube

STRICKLAND HINES moved to Lindsay from Oshawa in August 2025. Lindsay Advocate: Why did you choose to move here? STRICKLAND: I was looking for a change of pace and a quieter lifestyle for my family without being too far from the city. We found there was better value for a home and property in Kawartha Lakes compared with what we could get elsewhere. My kids were also already familiar with the area from visiting their grandmother, so the move wasn’t completely unfamiliar to them. Lindsay offered a great balance of small-town living, beautiful surroundings and accessibility to the city when needed. Lindsay Advocate: What is your favourite thing about Kawartha Lakes so far? STRICKLAND: The peacefulness and slower pace of life. There are so many outdoor activities to enjoy with the kids, including fishing and riding their bikes safely around town. That’s something I wouldn’t have felt as comfortable with in the city. I also appreciate the sense of community and being able to slow down and enjoy where we live. Lindsay Advocate: What are your favourite local restau‑ rants or shops? STRICKLAND: So far, two of my favourites are Ziggy’s, because I enjoy the Caribbean dinner options, and Chuck’s Roadhouse for a good steak. I’m still exploring and look forward to discovering more of Lindsay’s independent restaurants and shops. 54

Lindsay Advocate: What do you think is missing from Kawartha Lakes? STRICKLAND: I think there could be more entertainment and social activities for adults, particularly things that bring people together in the evenings and on weekends. More social events, unique restaurants and places to gather would be a welcome addition. Lindsay Advocate: How were you involved in your previous community and how might you like to get involved in Kawartha Lakes? STRICKLAND: In my previous community, I enjoyed getting involved in local events and supporting small businesses whenever I could. Now that I’m here, I’d like to meet more people, participate in community events and find ways to support local businesses and organizations. I think the best way to feel at home in a new community is to become part of it.

Are you new in town? If you moved to Kawartha Lakes within the past two years and want to be featured here, email us at info@lindsayadvocate.ca.

GIVE TWICE THE HOPE! Thanks to the exceptional generosity of FDC Foundation, our community has an outstanding opportunity to modernize and expand ultrasound services at RMH! Recognizing the significant demand and profound need for local access to state-of-theart equipment, FDC Foundation is stepping up with a transformational gift of $1.2 million for this high-priority project. And they want to do even more. FDC Foundation is challenging the community to join them in supporting ultrasound at the Ross! Once we raise $500,000—it will unlock an additional $500,000 match gift from FDC. That means they will MATCH your gift dollar for dollar for gold standard ultrasound care at the Ross! Advanced ultrasound technology helps the Ross team save lives, guide treatment and improve pain and symptom management in every patient care area. To make a donation that tio on, will be DOUBLED by FDC Foundati • Give online at wearetheross.ca • Mail your gift to the RMH Foundation • Call the Foundation Office at 705-328-6146 • Visit the Foundation in person at RMH

Together, we can give patients TWICE the hope!