All posts by SHLF

New water mains in Tay Township a ‘huge’ help to fight cottage fire

A visitor to Port McNicoll for a wedding looked out his kitchen window to see the next-door neighbour’s waterfront cottage on fire Wednesday afternoon.

Andrew Degenhardt called 911 before 4:30 p.m.

“They got here very fast and immediately went to work,” he said about the response from the Tay Township Fire Department to the fire at 155 Woodlands Ave. The fire was put out with the front of the building standing.

Tay Township fire Chief Brian Thomas said new water mains with hydrants were just installed in the area this year.

“That made a huge difference. Now we have six-inch mains, so our volume of water was readily accessible when we needed it,” he said.

Anderson Hoare, who lives year-round next door, said no one was at the cottage at the time of the fire and there had not been anyone around. He added the wood cottage is more than 60 years old. The owner is from Toronto and comes up only three to five times a year.

Hoare used his garden hose to prevent the fire from spreading to his house, where he stores large propane tanks.

The cause of the blaze is to be determined.

 

Maqsood Dogar — Clearview Ward 3

Maqsood Dogar moved from Mississauga to Stayner in 2004, where he has resided for 14 delightful years. 

He graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 2000, as well as George Brown College for business information systems in 1996. He has been managing Stayner’s Hasty Market for the past eight years; he also managed Macs from 2004 to 2008. 

He and his wife Javaria have been married for 19 years and together they have four loving children. 

Maqsood is a very energetic person; his brilliance and knowledge makes him a perfect candidate for the role of councillor because he may be young, but he is also wise.

With Clearview Township expanding and more houses being built around Stayner, his goal is to connect Stayner and Collingwood to Barrie and Toronto, through the expansion of public transit (GO Transit) and to work to support the development of local health-care facilities. 

Recent local school closures resulting in an influx of students attending Clearview Meadows Elementary School cause a safety concern at the intersection of Highway 26 and Locke Avenue.

Maqsood would also work to have a traffic light installed at this location and support the expansion of the school parking lot.

Canuck cuisine featured at Orillia’s Era 67

Era 67 likes to keep it local.  

“Our motto is a taste of Canadian history,” said Devon Spence, who owns and operates the upscale casual Orillia restaurant.

With that in mind, its culinary philosophy is to use fresh and local ingredients whenever possible.

“We believe in playing with the seasons, and building strong relationships with our local farmers and producers,” said the restaurateur, whose business partners include her sister, and brother-in-law Pam and Brian Patterson.

The menu serves up gourmet and casual cuisine inspired by our Canadian heritage, including Alberta steaks, lobster, P.E.I. mussels, smoked salmon, poutine and local duck — to name a few.

“We’re particularly well known for our steaks, rack of lamb, short ribs and duck,” she said. Everything is made from scratch, and made to order.  

While Era 67 has been a fixture on the Orillia dining scene for years, Spence took over the helm about three years ago.

“I’ve worked in the industry for about 25 years, and I was ready to run my own place,” she said.

Born and raised in Collingwood, Spence started busing tables when she was 13 and worked her way up. Before taking over Era 67, she managed Kaytoo in Collingwood and Hudson (now closed) in Barrie.

Primarily looking after the front of the house, she’s also handy in the kitchen, and can prepare any dish on the menu.

“I just put on my chef’s hat, change my heels for flats and away I go,” she says with a smile.

The popular 80-seat venue features a 12-seat private room, a lounge and a patio. “People can come in and have drinks with sharing plates or charcuterie boards or enjoy a three course dining experience,” she said. The decor is casual and features the artwork of local artists, oak booths, a fireplace and plenty of comfy cushions.

Specialty nights include No Corkage Tuesdays (you can bring in a bottle of wine and there is no corkage fee), Half-Priced Appetizer Wednesdays (half-priced appetizers from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.), All You Can Eat Mussels Thursdays, Fish Feature Fridays, Surf and Turf Saturdays, and Prime Rib Dinner Sundays.

The restaurant is also planning an upcoming wild game night.

Along with local wines and beers, Era 67 showcases a craft cocktail menu. “Our big sellers are freshly muddled raspberry mojitos and margaritas,” she said.

Local entertainment is showcased Thursdays through Saturdays.

While there are many dining establishments in and around Orillia to choose from, the restaurateur encourages diners to support local independent businesses.

“The summer is the perfect time to check us out because we have a wonderful patio with a historical fountain.”

“It’s a very peaceful setting and you can hear the water trickling when you are enjoying your meal.”

Era 67 is located at , Orillia.

For more information, call or visit

Five things you need to know about the Peak to Shore Music Festival

1. The Peak to Shore Music Festival takes place from July 4-7 in Collingwood, Thornbury and Blue Mountain.

2. The event will take place in 11 different venues including the Village Stage, MJ Byrne’s Irish Pub and Firehall Pizza at Blue Mountain Village, Gustav Chophouse, Crow Bar & Variety, Shipyards Amphitheatre in Collingwood,  and Bruce Wine Bar, the Corner Café and Maiolo’s Restaurant and Lounge in Thornbury.

3. More than 32 acts will perform during the festival including Bernadette Connors, Rebecca Rain, Shipyards Kitchen Party, Paul Reddick, Chad Price, Cold Jack, Karla Crawford and Kayla Diamond.

4. All of the concerts are free and start at 6 p.m., and run until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 p.m. on Sunday.

5. There will be two open mike sessions on Thursday at 9 p.m., with Dave Russell at the Corner Café in Thornbury and Craig Smith at Crow Bar and Variety.

Tanya Saari – Barrie Ward 3

“My home … My community … My passion”

That’s how I feel about Barrie, particularly Ward 3! I have lived here for over a decade and there’s no place I’d rather be.

My husband and I have raised our three children in Ward 3 for the past 13 years. They all attended schools in the area, and I also work in the community.

As your Ward 3 councillor, one of my top priorities will be keeping open communication with the residents. To best represent the needs of the community, I will make myself available to hear your comments, concerns, and ideas for the area — and I will make sure I respond to you!

It is important that you have a voice in our ward, and I will be your voice at city hall.

As a local real estate agent, I am aware of the challenges we are facing with affordable housing in Barrie. We need to re-evaluate the Registered Second Suite process, as well as ensure that new builds delegate a portion of units to affordable housing so that all residents have a place to call home.

The City of Barrie is growing rapidly, and funds are being spent to support this growth. Although this is important, we need to ensure that Ward 3 remains a priority. Our roads, parks, and development are equally as important as the rest of the city.

I am excited to work hard being the voice of our community. My commitment to communication, relationship building, and strong ethics are just what is needed for Ward 3.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me! I look forward to getting to know you!

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Buck-a-beer ‘impossible’: Barrie brewers bail on Ontario’s ale plan

There’s a sobering reality for many of Ontario’s craft breweries: It costs a lot of money to make a quality product.

So it appears many local suds producers will be taking a pass on Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s buck-a-beer challenge. The Progressive Conservative government promised last week to lower the minimum price for any beer with an alcohol volume below 5.6 per cent to $1, effective Aug. 27.

“There’s a time and a place for the differences between a drive-thru meal and a good steak,” Redline Brewhouse owner Kari Williams said. “For us, as an independently owned and operated small business trying to create our own market in Barrie, the buck-a-beer concept is of no interest. Without taking a significant loss, it’s impossible. If anything, it erodes what craft beer culture is trying to do. I’m nervous about getting political. But I don’t think it was well thought out. It is aimed at, and potentially supports, the global conglomerates.”

Craft beer’s share of the market has grown steadily in recent years and currently sits at about eight per cent, she said.

“People are hungry for that quality, unique, consistent beer,” Williams said. “They’re prepared to pay for (that). We purposely source local (ingredients) first. We hire from the local population.”

The government plan is not mandatory. However, the province has promised to provide incentives to participating breweries for a limited time throughout the year, including LCBO promotional discounts, in-store displays on end aisles and shelf extenders, or advertising in LCBO flyers and newspaper inserts.

Buck-a-beer will not apply to draft brews sold in restaurants and bars, or ciders, spirits or wine.

“You can’t do buck-a-beer at the craft brew level,” Barnstormer Brewing and Distilling Co. president Dustin Norlund said. “It’s not going to benefit Ontario. The only brewers that could do it successfully are producing in cheap jurisdictions elsewhere. Our consumers aren’t interested in buck-a-beer. They fully understand you’re giving up quality to get the price.”

The minimum price was raised by the previous Liberal government, from $1 to $1.25, in 2008, Ford said.

However, production costs and taxes have climbed significantly over the last decade, Norlund noted.

Instead, the province should focus on updating “archaic” alcohol laws, disbanding the Beer Store and diversifying products at the LCBO, he said.

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery expressed similar concerns in social media posts last week, and strongly asserted it will not participate in the challenge.

“ have come so far creating jobs, supporting our local communities, and brewing fantastic award-winning beers with international reputations for quality,” Flying Monkeys said in an Aug. 8 post. “That doesn’t happen for a dollar.”

The company also finished the statement with the hashtag.

Two days later, the brewery reaffirmed its position with a post about vintage stout.

“In , there are incomparable beers which become Standards of Faith testifying there are Brewers who care deeply about their art,” the brewery said. “Craft Beers are worth more than a Dollar.”

Representatives from Flying Monkeys could not be reached for comment. 

Racing stunt in Alliston costs York Region man his ride

A racing stunt in Alliston cost a 35-year-old York Region man his ride over the weekend.

A member of the Nottawasaga OPP detachment was patrolling County Road 10 just before 2 a.m. Saturday, July 28 when the officer approached a black Nissan travelling south toward Alliston.

While stopped at County Road 10 and Highway 89, the Nissan took off at a high rate of speed after the light turned green.

The officer followed the vehicle and clocked it travelling 160 kilometres per hour in the 80 km/h zone.

The car was pulled over and the driver was charged with stunt driving. His licence was suspended for seven days and his vehicle was impounded for seven days.

He will attend a future court date in Barrie.

Midland, Penetanguishene released tons of sewage into Georgian Bay

In 2016, Midland and Penetanguishene discharged nearly 15 million litres of sewage into Georgian Bay. 

That is about six Olympic sized swimming pools.

The sewage being released by Midland is both untreated and partially treated, while the bypasses from Penetanguishene is fully treated effluent.

The Georgian Bay Preservation Alliance, a registered not-for-profit corporation, released a report on June 27 detailing the sewage that those municipalities have been dumping into Ontario waterways.

According to data they collected from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the Town of Midland released 9.7 million litres of sewage into Georgian Bay during a number of rain storms in 2016. These discharges lasted a combined 29 hours.

Penetanguishene released over 5.2 million litres of treated sewage into the bay during a combined 31 hours and 35 minutes of discharges that same year. 

During severe storms, older municipal sanitary sewer systems get overwhelmed by the inflow of rain water, given the fact that some storm sewers and sump pumps are improperly connected to the system.

In downtown Midland, the sanitary sewer lines are cross-connected with the storm water lines. When the town receives excessive amounts of rain over a short period of time the municipal sanitary systems can’t handle the increased flow and sewage is released into Georgian Bay.

Andy Campbell, director of water and wastewater services for the Town of Midland, says that occasionally untreated and partially treated sewage gets released by the municipality. One discharge is located directly off the town dock, while another overflow release is at the sewage treatment plant.

“Our licences to operate from the Ministry of the Environment allows us to do those discharges. When these discharges happen, there is no violation of the law,” said Campbell. “When we have these, we have to notify the ministry, but we are not in violation of any rules.”

Campbell also notes that Midland’s treatment system deals with eight to nine million litres of sewage flow in an average day. During storms this can increase to as much as 20 million litres.

It would cost an estimated $4 million to fix the cross-connecting sewers downtown.

Jeff Lees, Penetanguishene CAO, say the town spent $28 million to renovate the Philip H. Jones Pollution Control Plant to mitigate the risk of significant events going into Georgian Bay and that they haven’t released anything for a number of years.

“Any bypasses that occurred were minor third-stage partial bypasses that were at the very last stage of the treatment process and all disinfected with chlorine,” said Lees.

Members of the Georgian Bay Preservation Alliance learned about this practice when it was publicized at a Midland council meeting, .

“We have quite a few members who are permanent or seasonal residents in Georgian Bay. They wanted to know if this was a common practice and why it was a practice,” said Jon Telch, a spokesperson for the Alliance.

The group decided to look into the situation and reached out to the province for data.

Bypass and overflow information is reported by municipalities to the ministry through the Spills Action Centre and then input into a database.

While information is regularly reported to the province, Telch and his colleagues believe the public needs to be notified when a municipality discharges sewage.

“Right now, there is no form of immediate reporting…something saying: ‘Hey you might not want to go swimming or canoeing today because yesterday there was a torrential rain storm and thousands of litres of sewage was dumped,’ ” said Telch. “People have the right to know when these dumps take place, for how long and how much was dumped.”

In May of 2017, Bill 141 – The Sewage Bypass Reporting Act, was introduced by Sylvia Jones an MPP for Dufferin-Caledon. This Bill would require the ministry to promptly notify the public when, where and why a sewage discharge occurred and at what time the measured volume of discharge was. The bill is still in limbo at Queen’s Park, as Jones was unable to get it passed before the recent provincial election.

As for the impact to the local water quality, there are various local organizations regularly testing and monitoring water throughout the region.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit monitors designated public beaches on a weekly basis from mid-June through Labour Day weekend.

“We take water samples from five separate points at public beaches and those samples are analyzed by our provincial laboratory for E. coli, as is it the most specific indicator of fecal pollution,” said Christina Wieder, Safe Water Program Manager with the Health Unit.

When high levels of E. coli are found, swimming advisories are put in place and swimming in not recommended.

“You could potentially get ear, eye, nose or throat infections or get a stomach illness if the water is swallowed,” said Wieder.

All swimming advisories are posted with signs at the beaches and on the .

The also tests the water at 14 different locations throughout the watershed including one location near the Midland harbour and another at the bottom of Penetanguishene Bay.

“We have a partnership with the Ministry of Environment and we send our samples for nutrient testing and heavy metals. We get algae analysis done and zooplankton counted,” said Aisha Chiandet, water scientist with the SSEA.

“Overall across 2017 the water quality hadn’t changed a whole lot compared to the long-term records.”

Editor’s note: A correction was made to this story on July 8, 2018. The story stated that Penetanguishene released over $5.2 million litres of sewage into Georgian Bay in 2016. To clarify, the town did not release any raw sewage into Georgian Bay. According to Penetanguishene CAO Jeff Lees, the bypasses that occurred were third-stage partial bypasses that were in the very last stage of the treatment process and disinfected with chlorine. Simcoe.com regrets the error.

Bo’s Authentic Thai Cuisine opens in Barrie

Amornthip Ratanadawong, known by her childhood nickname Bo, owns and operates Bo’s Authentic Thai Cuisine.

Bo’s memories of Thai cuisine have stayed with her and are truly represented in the offerings on her menu.

A large part of the dining experience is tasting some of Bo’s Thai sauces, which she enjoys making herself.

The seasoning is based on the “Five Taste” principle, which is a blend of five distinct flavours: sweet, hot, sour, salty and bitter.

Bo’s Authentic Thai Cuisine only uses the finest ingredients including the freshest herbs, exotic vegetables and special spices. Bo’s brings the true taste of Thailand to Barrie.

Located on Anne Street, just north of Dunlop Street, Bo’s has a quaint dining area and a decorated patio for outdoor dining.

Basic high-speed internet lacking for Midland, Penetanguishene residents

More than 88 per cent of north Simcoe residents do not have access to basic high-speed internet, according to a recent broadband analysis.

A study of area broadband networks, conducted in part by the North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation, shows that the majority of residents in the region are underserved when it comes to high-speed internet.

“The question is not whether you have high-speed internet, but whether you have appropriate high-speed internet that is at a speed and a level that meets the needs of the public,” said Rob McPhee, who led the analysis project.

In 2011 the CRTC said all Canadians should have access to minimum download speeds of five Mbps and upload speeds of one Mbps. In 2016 this standard changed and minimum download speeds of 50 Mbps and upload speeds of 10 Mbps are now required.

The report states that a total of 88 per cent of permanent residents, 70 per cent of seasonal residents and 94 per cent of commercial buildings in north Simcoe do not have internet that meets the latest CRTC standards. Of those, 22 per cent of permanent residents, 33 per cent of seasonal residents and 21 per cent of commercial buildings don’t have access to internet that meets 2011 standards, let alone the latest service standards.

“When you look at it nationally, communities in the North Simcoe region ranked between 113 and 167 out of 168,” said McPhee. “The north Simcoe region is in the bottom 25th percentile of high speed internet connectivity.”

Beausoleil First Nation ranks second last in all of Canada in regard to quality of high-speed internet, with 100 per cent of residents unable to access 2016 service standards and over 50 per cent receiving internet that fails to meet 2011 standards.

“Our aim with this report is to seek out infrastructure builds through SWIFT (Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology Network),” said Chris McLaughlin, general manager of the North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation. “We are going to be approaching them and trying to work with them to see if our region can be one of the first with some sort of project through the fund.”