Ontario Archives — Lindsay Advocate

Benns’ Belief: This land is our land — and we must protect it

Published on August 20, 2019 in Opinion by Roderick Benns

“We no longer see the world as a single entity. We’ve moved to cities and we think the economy is what gives us our life …without regard to what it does to the rest of the world.” – David Suzuki

It’s a privilege to be able to drive across Canada, not the least of which is because it helps one understand the essence of the country better than dropping in on big cities by plane. However, the cost of lodging, gasoline, and time away from jobs makes it next to impossible for too many Canadians.

So, it was indeed a privilege for us to be able to travel over 12,500 kilometres to the Yukon and back a few years ago for over a month, seeing this great country in a way that few of us do.

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The coolest job in town

Published on July 19, 2019 in Around Town/Community by Jamie Morris

Summertime, and the livin’ for many of us is sweaty and uncomfortable. Then there are the lucky few who spend their days in refrigerated bliss. The list includes workers in the Kawartha Dairy ice cream production area, the Beer Store employees who restock shelves, butchers who are in and out of freezers.

Most enviable, though, might be Tyler England, whose job includes maintaining the Lindsay Recreation Complex’s twin pad ice surface. For almost two years now he’s been one of nine who operate ice-resurfacing machines, sitting at the controls, systematically crisscrossing ice surfaces at the city’s nine arenas, leaving behind a slick of fresh ice.

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Newfoundland cod, community gardens, and our fading social memory

Published on June 25, 2019 in Opinion by Roderick Benns

A stinging, light rain is in the air in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. The fishing trawler edges to the dock and there is a bustle of activity. One man is below deck organizing the day’s catch while another man, above, eases a basket of cod from the belly of the boat. Two other men are on the dock, swapping stories. I’m there, too, out of place and taking some photos at their invitation.

Here in one of the oldest communities in all of North America, just four miles away from Cape Spear, I am in awe of this traditional way of life.

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EOWC and eastern MPPs meet to talk social policy, services

Published on May 30, 2019 in Municipal/Provincial by Lindsay Advocate

Members of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) held a meeting with their provincial counterparts recently to discuss issues of interest for Eastern Ontario such as affordable housing, health care, emergency services and financial impacts on municipal service delivery.

The meeting, co-hosted by EOWC Chair Andy Letham and MPP Todd Smith (also Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade), is an annual gathering of Provincial MPPs and the heads of Council from across the region.

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Putting the carbon tax through the spin cycle

Published on May 29, 2019 in Opinion by Trevor Hutchinson

In 1946 George Orwell, the writer of 1984 wrote in his seminal Politics and the English Language that, “When one watches some tired hack on the platform mechanically repeating the familiar phrases … one often has a curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being but some kind of dummy, the appropriate noises are coming out of his larynx, but his brain his not involved.”

But who is this Orwell? He probably took courses at university that were not tied to ‘performance outcomes’! He merely warned generations of the dangers of totalitarianism. Clearly not a man who was ‘open for business.’

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Scott announces $71 million to improve broadband access, cell coverage

Published on May 22, 2019 in Community/Provincial by Lindsay Advocate

The Ontario government is investing $71 million to improve mobile broadband and reliable cellular coverage across eastern Ontario, through the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN).

The project will help residents, visitors and businesses get the broadband and cellular connections they need no matter where they are in the region.

About 10 per cent of rural eastern Ontario has no mobile broadband connection, leading to dropped calls, missed emergency services and a lack of opportunity.

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Highway 35 restoration project announced by Province

Published on March 29, 2019 in Provincial by Lindsay Advocate

Today MPP Laurie Scott announced the Ontario government is investing in Highway 35 restoration projects to improve road safety in the northern Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton. The restoration projects will include culvert upgrades, and rehabilitation of the Gull River bridge in Moore Falls.

This funding is part of a $1.3 billion investment in transportation projects announced by Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation. These projects will help create jobs for Ontario’s construction industry and help keep our highways reliable so that our province has a transportation network that encourages job creation, investment and trade in every region of the province.

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Need for carpenters rising in Kawartha Lakes — just ask Madeline Carey

Published on December 20, 2018 in Around Town/Business/Community by Geoff Coleman

If StatsCan and the Peterborough Workforce Development Board are correct, kids entering high school this year and hoping to live and work in the City of Kawartha Lakes after graduation would be wise to choose trades — especially construction technology as an elective course. The PWDB projects that the City of Kawartha Lakes will see a 39 per cent increase in demand for carpenters between 2017 and 2024. That is the largest increase shown among surveyed occupations, surpassing elementary school teachers (5 per cent), truck drivers (18 per cent), and even sales representatives (27 per cent).

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