It's been a tough year for Canada. Threats of annexation and geopolitical uncertainty have been difficult for most of us to deal with. That's why the Highlands Summer Festival in Haliburton is launching its summer season with a fitting prescription — laughs and lots of them from an all-Canadian season of plays and musicals.Dougie Walker, Artistic Director and Producer of HSF took time out of his busy schedule of auditions, callbacks, working, being a dad and studying for a new career to speak with CanoeFM recently. He says we all need a laugh and this season, audiences are going to be doing just that. This season's offerings feature beloved musicals and plays from Canadian playwrights that are sure to give everyone a boost of patriotism and pride.

The Healthy Democracy Project's Voices and Votes Speaker Series is attempting to educate and inform the public about the local political process. Coming this March, there are two new presentations entitled ‘Behind the Scenes of Municipal Leadership'and ‘Understanding Campaigns, How Success Happens'. The goal is to pull back the curtain and by doing so, inspire people to engage in the level of government that impacts everyone the most.CanoeFM sat down recently with Carol Moffat, a former Algonquin Highlands councilor, mayor and County Warden and Lauren Hunter, who has managed campaigns for many years. Both emphasized the importance of understanding and getting involved with local politics, boards of directors or not-for-profit organizations because of the potential for positive outcomes for communities.They encourage people come out to the upcoming sessions to learn more about how everyone can make a difference locally.

After six years of good fiscal management and meeting educational priorities, the Trillium Lakes District School Board, (TLDSB) announced recently that the Board's new Outdoor Education & Indigenous Centre will begin construction on its own property in Minden later this Spring.The new, three thousand square foot centre is expected to cost $1.2 million dollars which will come out of the Board's capital reserves and be used by students from kindergarten to Grade 12. Set on the Board's own 90-plus acres, beside Archie Stouffer Elementary School, the centre will provide Leadership and teambuilding, environmental learning, including orienteering, mapping, flora/fauna identification, and ecology, physical education like skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking, Indigenous teachings from Elders and Knowledge Keepers and activities such as collecting maple sap, studying animal tracks, and exploring the Canadian shield.CanoeFM spoke with Wes Hahn, TLDSB Director recently to learn more about next steps. Hahn says now that the Ministry has approved the plan, tenders will go out and construction won't be too far behind. He hopes to get shovels in the ground as soon as the snow melts.

The 2nd Annual Haliburton February Folk Festival is a delight for the senses and a perfect way to rid yourself of the winter blahs. There's a jam-packed schedule of local artists and top-tier talents in this year's festival that's already underway. Organizers are thrilled to build on their first year's success.Lizzy Clarke is the coordinator of the February Folk Festival – a month-long celebration of all kinds of musical genres at a number of local venues.A singer in her own right, Clarke dropped by the CanoeFM studios to give a glimpse into this year's musical offerings. She's encourages everyone to get out to as many shows as possible, both the ticketed events and the pop-up shows as well.

Darren Lum has traded in his notebook and camera for a completely different career. After decades of working as a journalist in Haliburton, he's working as a carpenter with a local homebuilder, Haliburton Crew. Now Lum is in an industry that's crying out to attract more people like him – those willing to pick up a power tool and work in the trades.With a can-do attitude and a seemingly fearless approach, trying new things is definitely part of Lum's make-up. After he ended his journalism career, Lum worked for two winters learning how to lead sled dog trips with Winterdance Dogsled Tours, northeast of Haliburton. A marathon runner, Lum continued to build up his strength and endurance. For a time, he even worked as a bike courier. Now, at 49, all that conditioning is paying off in the physically demanding world of the trades.CanoeFM recently spoke to Lum and his boss Andrew Brown to learn about how jumping into the skilled trades has been a great transition and why people like him are needed in an industry that's facing critical staffing shortages.

Over the last four years, Kathy Judson , a mother of twin 12-year-old gymnastics-crazed daughters has searched for a spot that would work for a gymnastics space in Haliburton. She was exhausted from having to drive her girls hours out of town to train and compete.After the last possible site fell through, she reached out to the Haliburton County Development Corporation, or HCDC for guidance. The organization gave her some great advice and possible locations to look at, then Judson secured the site located at 367 Industrial Road in Haliburton. Then, they sweetened the pot with a $100 thousand dollar loan to get Haliburton Gymnastics off the ground.While the space in Haliburton has been secured, she's now beginning her search for community donors or sponsors. Judson hopes to open the doors to the Haliburton Gymnastics in July to recreational users then ramp up from there.

The Haliburton Sled Dog Derby returns to The Pinestone on January 24rth and 25th — one of three remaining dog sled racing events still taking place in Ontario. It's a true team sport, where both the animals and humans must work together. This weekend's event will feature mushers competing in a number of different race classes from across the province, Quebec and the US. The event even attracted an international attention when the Jamaican Dog Sled team raced a few years back.In preparation for the weekend's event, CanoeFM ventured out into the woods northeast of Haliburton to learn more about dog sledding from a local expert, Tanya McCready of Winterdance Dog Sled Tours. We sat beside a woodburning stove as just outside, a group of dogs were being hitched up for an afternoon ride. Meanwhile, her young pup Sherlock tried to distract us from our conversation.

Balancing priorities, preparing for the future while keeping the taxpayers' burden as low as possible is what Minden Hills Mayor Bob Carter is trying to do with the 2026 budget process. That's why he chose to use his newly granted Strong Mayors' powers to veto eight amendments already passed by council during the budget deliberations.When Mayor presented the proposed budget to council on Dec. 15, the tax increase for residents was 3 point nine five per cent. Councilors then passed 27 amendments to this year's budget to include charges that were unknown or unavailable at the time of the original budget. Others were to correct errors or omissions.Carter spoke with CanoeFM to explain what amendments he vetoed and the rationale behind them. The majority of these involved adding back items that appeared in the first draft of the budget but had been voted out by councilors. Under the new Strong Mayors legislation, the budget process has much stricter timelines.

Under the guise of fast-tracking housing and infrastructure construction, consistent standards and better flood and hazard management across the province, the Ontario government is proposing to amalgamate 36 existing conservation authorities into seven larger regional bodies, with oversight from a provincial agency.The plan, announced in November 2025, has already received harsh criticism from several municipalities and conservation authorities through the public consultation or period, which ended in late December. Those in opposition have voiced concerns over the loss of local environmental knowledge, reduced community engagement, potential job losses, and disruption to critical flood management.When it comes to Haliburton County, only a small fraction falls under conservation authority jurisdiction, that being a tiny portion in Highlands East, managed by Crowe Valley Conservation. And yet, the Kawartha Conservation Authority manages Source Water Protection here.CanoeFM spoke with a number of local organizations who fear how the amalgamation of conservation authorities will impact the local environment and in turn, the county's economy.

As of yesterday, Sunday, January 11th, The Beer Store in Haliburton has officially closed. In June, the local store would've celebrated its 50thyear of serving locals and tourists and yesterday the last case of beer rolled out.When the store closed at 4pm, employees, former employees, friends and customers gathered in the parking lot to mark the occasion. They stood together in the blustery weather, and while impacted employees were prohibited from speaking to the media, several loyal customers openly shared their disappointment.The closure of the Haliburton location came from an agreement with the Ontario government, The Beer Store and the union representing 65-hundred full and part-time Beer Store employees, United Food and Commercial Workers, following the expansion of alcohol sales at grocery and convenience stores across the province.