Posts with the Ont. tag

Barris Beat

Tribute to a comrade traveller

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John Imanse – farmer, traveller, gentle philosopher extraordinaire. Photo Ken Mist.

Most of you don’t know the name of the source for my story this week. But all of you know him. If you know someone who spends most of his time on the land, you know him. If that person is also self-made, a bit of a loner, not always outspoken, but remarkably prescient of people and trends, then you know him.

The first time I had a conversation with John Imanse, we were standing outside a tour bus near Amsterdam in 2005. Off to the side, he puffed on his cigarette like there was no tomorrow. Imanse, then 59, was one of over 100 people I was hosting on a tour around the Netherlands celebrating the 60th anniversary of Dutch liberation.

“What made you want to come on this tour? I asked him.

He motioned to the bus driver and said, “So I wouldn’t have to do that!” I wasn’t sure what he meant. “I’m a farmer,” he said. “I’ve always got my hands on the wheel of a tractor. But for the 10 days of this tour, I don’t even have to think about driving.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Inside a walk for change

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Ken MacKay during his walk for homeless vets. Newmarket Today photo.

Last Saturday afternoon, friend and Royal Canadian Legion Veterans Service Officer Carol Pearcey got a call from a fellow Legionnaire from southwestern Ontario. She hadn’t met the caller, Ken MacKay, but she sensed he needed help. MacKay was 22 days into a solo walkathon to Parliament Hill for fellow veterans.

But (you’ll remember weather turned cold and rainy Saturday afternoon) and MacKay asked for a lift over the last few kilometres to the local Legion for a planned reception. Pearcey obliged and MacKay made it to the Franklin Street branch safe and dry.

“Carol was my guardian angel,” he said. “I’m very grateful.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Billion-tree promise

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What a pledge to plant trees can yield. Photo – Stop Sprawl Durham.

There was a short news clip about a week ago. It captured the Canadian minister of energy and natural resources smiling for the cameras. The video showed him joining the mayor of Surrey, B.C. Together, Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Mayor Brenda Locke planted a tree symbolic of long-range plans to help restore Canada’s tree population, reduce the effects of severe weather (flooding or drought) and rescue a warming planet.

“Planting two billion trees over 10 years is a key part of Canada’s plan to fight climate change,” Wilkinson said on August 2. “Every tree planted is a step toward a healthier, more sustainable Canada.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Canada’s nuclear legacy

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Outside Nelson’s former post office…
… and down an alley way.

The archivist at the museum had no idea it was there. In fact, when Jean-Phillippe Stienne applied for and landed the job as new archivist and collections manager of the museum, archives and art gallery in Nelson, B.C., back in 2017, he knew nothing about the explosive history buried beneath his new office.

“I came here because it’s a beautiful part of the world,” Steinne, 43, told me during a speaking stop I made in British Columbia last week. “I’d actually been working here a few years before I knew about the mystery under the museum.”

When I asked what he was talking about, Stienne, or “J.P.” as everybody calls him, walked me out the front door of his museum (formerly the Nelson post office) and down a back alley to an adjacent building. He unlocked an exterior door, which revealed an inner door with a thick circular porthole window and a black-lettered sign that read, “Nelson’s Cold War Bunker.” (more…)

Barris Beat

What sustains Canada’s small towns

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The Hive in Nanton – just one of many attractions created by local entrepreneurs.

Whenever I get the chance to visit other provinces, I find myself gravitating to smaller towns. Last week, I was travelling through southern Alberta on a public-speaking tour. One of the places where I’d been invited to speak was Nanton (population 2,000), about an hour’s drive south of Calgary.

While there, my host invited me to lunch at a new eatery in town called The Hive. It was part vendors’ shop and part truck-stop café. Inside I was introduced to owner/operator, Kristen Hall.

“Welcome to The Hive,” she said. “It’s what’s buzzing in town.”

I rolled my eyes and groaned.

“It’s always a good idea to start your visit with a laugh,” she said. “Enjoy your stay.” (more…)