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Global News: Kitchener

OMA worried residency policy change could deter international physicians

The government recently changed rules for international medical school graduates looking to do their residency in Ontario.

Global News: Kitchener

Ford says there’s ‘no damn way’ tariffs on Chinese EVs should be scrapped

Premier Doug Ford's comments came after the premiers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan urged Ottawa to scrap electric vehicle tariffs, largely in place to protect Ontario.

The Community Edition

EYELASH MAN #19

Eyelash Man #19: “The Yearly Shed”

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

“Yeah, annually. It’s thematic, but I always miss the parties…”


Observer Extra

Maryhill Historical Society


Wellington Advertiser

Lithium-ion battery sparks fire, causing $500,000 in damage

HARRISTON – Just as Fire Prevention Week was wrapping up, a fire caused by a lithium-ion battery led to major damage at a Harriston home on Saturday.

Minto and Wellington North firefighters responded to a “serious structure fire” in a residential garage at about 10pm on Oct. 10 near the intersection of Elora and Union streets, deputy fire chief Callise Loos told the Advertiser. 

The blaze was contained before it could spread to neighbouring homes.

No injuries were reported, but the fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damages.

“The incident highlights the growing risk associated with lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used in rechargeable tools, e-bikes and household devices,” Loos stated.

The blaze was fought by firefighters on Oct. 10. Submitted photo

 

The theme for Fire Prevention Week this year, which ran Oct. 5 to 11, was based on spreading awareness around the dangers of lithium-ion batteries.

Fire department officials say the Harriston blaze proves fire safety is a year-round message. 

Battery safety tips from Minto Fire include:

  • charge batteries away from flammable materials and never leave them unattended;
  • use only the charger provided by the manufacturer;
  • store batteries in cool, dry areas – never in direct sunlight or near heat sources;
  • do not use or charge damaged or swollen  batteries; and
  • recycle batteries properly at designated drop-off locations.

“Minto fire thanks the community for its support during Fire Prevention Week and encourages residents to stay vigilant and informed about fire risks in the home,” Loos stated.

For more information about fire safety visit nfpa.org.

The post Lithium-ion battery sparks fire, causing $500,000 in damage appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.


Wellington Advertiser

Multiple people injured in serious Monday crash

CENTRE WELLINGTON – Multiple people were injured in a serious three-vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway 6 and Wellington Road 22 on Monday.

Emergency crews responded to the scene, south Ennotville, on Oct. 13 at about 3:30pm.

“There are reports of various injuries, with occupants being sent to hospital, and one being sent to a trauma centre via air ambulance,” stated a Wellington County OPP press release.

“At this time, the number of occupants injured or involved, are currently being established.”

Police added “early reports indicate that of the reported injuries, all were deemed as non-life-threatening or altering.”

The intersection, where multiple crashes have occurred over the years, was closed for several hours.

Anyone who witnessed the collision, or has information or dashcam footage, can contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

The post Multiple people injured in serious Monday crash appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.


Global News: Kitchener

‘We need to get them out’: Beluga trainer fired by Marineland speaks out

Marineland's crumbling infrastructure, staffing shortage and lack of resources have created dangerous conditions for its belugas, a fired beluga trainer says.

Global News: Kitchener

Former Guardians fill Blue Jays clubhouse

Moments after the Seattle Mariners advanced to the American League Championship Series with a thrilling 15-inning win over the Detroit Tigers, first baseman Josh Naylor of Mississauga, Ont., was asked about getting to play post-season baseball in Toronto.

Global News: Kitchener

High hopes for QMJHL’s Regiment to stick in N.L.

Glenn Stanford has seen plenty of hockey teams come and go from St. John's. The Newfoundland Regiment, he believes, are built to last.

Global News: Kitchener

Mariners beat Jays 10-3 to take 2-0 series lead

Julio Rodriguez and Jorge Polanco hit three-run homers and Canadian Josh Naylor added a two-run shot to power the Seattle Mariners to a 10-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.

Global News: Kitchener

Leafs rookie Easton Cowan impresses in NHL debut

Easton Cowan stood on the blue line just ahead of puck drop.

Global News: Kitchener

‘Big Game’ Bieber looking forward to ALCS Game 3

When the Toronto Blue Jays enter hostile territory, it's Shane Bieber's job to be out front.

Global News: Kitchener

Appleton, Talbot lead Red Wings over Maple Leafs

Mason Appleton scored the winner with 44.1 seconds left in regulation and Cam Talbot made 38 saves as the Detroit Red Wings survived a blown two-goal lead in the third period to top the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Monday afternoon.

Global News: Kitchener

Blue Jays say Rogers Centre roof open for Game 2

In a change from Game 1, the Rogers Centre roof will be open for Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.

Global News: Kitchener

Santander scratched from Blue Jays’ Game 2 lineup

Switch-hitting slugger Anthony Santander is a late scratch from the Toronto Blue Jays' lineup for Game 2 of the American League Championship.

Global News: Kitchener

Ontario conservative group frustrated with ‘retail gimmicks’ from Ford government

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the group sounded like 'radical rights' and 'yahoos' when he was asked about their criticism. They say they want more serious policy.

Global News: Kitchener

Mariners dump Blue Jays 10-3 in Game 2 of ALCS

So much for the fatigue storyline.

Observer Extra

Police Continue to Investigate Cambridge Residential Break-In


Global News: Kitchener

Yesavage gets start for Jays in Game 2 of ALCS

Trey Yesavage will take the mound this evening for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

Global News: Kitchener

Blue Jays’ Nathan Lukes leaves Game 1 after fouling ball off knee

Nathan Lukes was pulled from the Toronto Blue Jays' 3-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series with a right-knee contusion.

Global News: Kitchener

Mariners top Blue Jays 3-1 in Game 1 of ALCS

The Seattle Mariners struck first in the American League Championship Series on Sunday with a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Global News: Kitchener

Yesavage a pawn in Blue Jays’ chess match

Trey Yesavage has had a lot of firsts in his rookie season with the Toronto Blue Jays. You can add "decoy" to the list.

Global News: Kitchener

Raptors hold off Wizards for pre-season win

Olivier Sarr scored the game-winning layup as time expired to lift the Toronto Raptors to a 113-112 win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday in NBA pre-season action.

Global News: Kitchener

Things to know travelling to Seattle for the Jays

There's more than 4,000 kilometres between the home ballparks of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners.

Global News: Kitchener

Yesavage says family, girlfriend subject to abuse

Trey Yesavage has called out baseball fans who have been subjecting his family and girlfriend to abuse during Major League Baseball's post-season.

Global News: Kitchener

Hot offence runs cold as Jays drop opener

George Springer did his best to set the early tone for the American League Championship Series on Sunday. 

Global News: Kitchener

Blue Jays are the bird for many this Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner is looking a bit different for one Vancouver couple this year. 

Global News: Kitchener

A bandwagon fan’s guide to baseball

The Toronto Blue Jays have advanced to the American League Championship Series for the first time in nearly a decade, and the bandwagon is officially rolling. 

Global News: Kitchener

Thanksgiving highlights crisis as Toronto food bank expects 4M visits

Hundreds joined the Daily Bread Food Bank this Thanksgiving to give back, as food insecurity visits are set to surpass four million in Toronto this year.

Global News: Kitchener

Jays’ Gausman gets Game 1 start against Mariners

Right-hander Kevin Gausman will get the start for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against Seattle.

Global News: Kitchener

Raptors rally to sink Celtics 107-105

The Toronto Raptors, who trailed 63-42 at halftime and watched the visiting Boston Celtics close the second quarter on a 20-3 run, pulled off an entertaining pre-season comeback on Friday with a 107-105 decision.

Global News: Kitchener

Two teenagers charged with murder in shooting at Ginoogaming First Nation: OPP

Two teens have been charged with murder after a deadly shooting in Ginoogaming First Nation, which prompted a shelter-in-place lockdown and renewed calls for action.

Global News: Kitchener

Ontario township switches to online council meetings after altercations ensue, police called

A Rideau Lakes Township council meeting broke down as police were called over heated exchanges between residents and the deputy mayor. Future meetings will be virtual for now.

Wellington Advertiser

Local mail delivery to resume during postal union rotational strikes

WELLINGTON COUNTY – Local postal workers are expected back on the job after the Thanksgiving long weekend with a switch from a nation-wide walkout to local, rotating strikes.

The change in tactics was announced by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) following an Oct. 8 meeting with procurement minister Joel Lightbound aimed at reversing changes to Canada Post’s mandate announced last month.

The switch, CUPW president Jam Simpson said in a statement, “will start mail and parcels moving, while continuing our struggle for good collective agreements and a strong postal service.”

Delivery is expected to ramp up locally starting Tuesday morning, according to CUPW Local 546 president Remegius Cheeke.

But direction on which local branches will participate in rotating strikes, and when, will come from the national level with little notice, Cheeke cautioned.

If the Guelph-based union branch, which represents postal workers in Wellington County, isn’t told otherwise, it means mail can be dropped off, retail counters will reopen, and post office boxes will be accessible come Tuesday.

Canada Post said in a statement on Friday afternoon it “will welcome back employees” starting Saturday, but service guarantees are suspended.

“While postal services will begin to resume next week, uncertainty and instability in the postal service will continue with the union’s decision to conduct rotating strikes,” Canada Post stated.

The union last used rotational strikes in 2018, before members were legislated back to work.

Fergus post office union steward Connor Ehrlich finds it “frustrating” to shift to rotating strikes as the walkout was building momentum.

The point of the strike is to get attention and cause discomfort, Ehrlich said.

But postal workers are “worn out” and some are “living paycheque to paycheque,” he said.

Related Articles
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Ehrlich suggested that’s why CUPW is switching tactics.

“I think there’s a lot of fear and anxiety from all the members,” he said.

“We’re also pissed off that we still don’t have a contract, and having to face layoffs on top of that, everyone’s just worn out by that.”

CUPW’s nationwide membership took to picket lines the day after Lightbound’s Sept. 25 announcement amid a nearly two-year impasse between the union and Canada Post on new collective agreements for letter carriers.

The strike has lasted 15 days.

Lightbound announced the government was loosening restrictions on Canada Post’s operations to help save millions of dollars for the Crown corporation.

Among the most significant changes:

  • lowering of delivery standards;
  • prioritizing community mailboxes over door-to-door delivery; and
  • lifting of a moratorium protecting some rural post offices from closure.

Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger has welcomed the government’s direction.

The mail service has 45 days to provide the government with a plan to implement operational changes.

CUPW national president Jan Simpson issued a statement following the Lighthouse meeting, saying the government’s involvement during the labour dispute has “undermined free and fair collective bargaining.”

“The Union also reminded the minister that the only way for this dispute to come to an end is for Canada Post to offer postal workers ratifiable collective agreements,” Simpson said.

Ehrlich, the Fergus union steward, said local members agree change is needed, but shuttering rural post offices should be off the table.

There are 12 rural post offices in the county protected by moratorium, including the Fergus location, which was also protected by past collective agreements.

“Some members agree that door-to-door delivery can be phased out, same as daily mail delivery,” Ehrlich said.

“I think that is more of a middle ground.”

But the lingering, unanswered question, Ehrlich added, is what Canadians see for the future of the nation’s mail service.

“We’ve been trying to stand up for them, but it sometimes feels like a lost cause, that nobody cares.”

Canada Post’s latest Oct. 3 submission to the union spans 500 pages, and hasn’t yet been formally responded to by the union.

In its Oct. 10 statement, Canada Post urged the union back to the bargaining table.

“The company is waiting to hear back from the union on its latest offers,” the statement said.

“Only new collective agreements will provide the certainty Canadians require to confidently use the postal system.”

But the union says little has improved from offers rejected by 69 per cent of its membership in August, following a forced vote by federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu.

The latest offers keeps a 13.6 per cent compounded wage increase across four years, but removes a signing bonus and proposes a certain workforce reduction through attrition and departure incentives.

Canada Post has blamed striking workers for worsening its “critical financial situation” and said its latest offers reflect the company’s “financial realities.”

But in an Oct. 3 statement, Simpson said Canada Post “seems hell-bent on making workers pay for the financial crisis it created and trying to turn the public against the very workers who keep this service alive.”

In an Oct. 9 statement, she added the union “will continue our fight for strong public services, good jobs and a sustainable public post office for all Canadians.”

A followup meeting with Lightbound is planned next week, according to the union.

The post Local mail delivery to resume during postal union rotational strikes appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.


Global News: Kitchener

Ontario to roll out new portal expanding digital access to court system

The Ontario Courts Public Portal is set to go live on Tuesday and will allow people to file documents, pay fees and find virtual links for court hearings online.

Wellington Advertiser

Hospice Wellington celebrates 45 years with $45,000 fundraiser

GUELPH – Hospice Wellington has set its sights on a fundraising goal of $45,000 to celebrate its 45th anniversary.

The charitable organization was established in 1980 to provide the Wellington-Guelph area with emotional support, care and practical assistance to community members with life-threatening illnesses. 

“A few ladies sat around a table 45 years ago and … they decided that people really needed help in the community with end-of-life care,” executive director Pat Stuart told the Advertiser.

The organization’s 10-bed residence facility, located at 795 Scottsdale Drive in Guelph, came 30 years later in 2010. 

Hospice Wellington executive director Pat Stuart. Submitted photo

“It’s 45 years for the community and 15 years for our hospice,” she added.

“We’re very proud and very thankful to our community because without our community we wouldn’t be here.”

Stuart has been a hospice employee for 13 years and a nurse for 47.

“It’s such an honour to do this kind of work,” she said.

“We help people live their best life here right to the end. It’s all about comfort, care and compassion.”

The hospice is funded 45 per cent by the government, meaning “everything else we have to work for,” Stuart said.

The 45 Days of Giving fundraiser began on Sept. 17 and runs till Oct. 31.

“We have someone that is matching $10,000,” she said.

“You can give whatever amount you want and honestly we appreciate anything at all.”

As of Oct. 8, just over 50% of the goal ($23,500) had been raised.

“We make sure every cent is spent properly,” Stuart said.

Most of the funds go towards operational costs, with a large portion funding hospice programs such as:

  • grief and bereavement group;
  • music therapy;
  • art therapy;
  • public workshops; and
  • palliative support.

Stuart noted the fundraiser isn’t just a celebration of the past, but a way to plant the seed for 45 more years.

“It’s about our future and this need for compassionate care and support,” she said.

“It doesn’t fade with time, it only grows.”

To donate visit hospicewellington.org.

The post Hospice Wellington celebrates 45 years with $45,000 fundraiser appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.


Global News: Kitchener

Yesavage’s not-so-secret weapon is the splitter

Trey Yesavage's devastating splitter turned heads as he mowed down the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series and the Blue Jays' rookie pitcher will likely be Toronto's starter when it hosts Game 2 of the AL Championship Series on Monday.

Wellington Advertiser

GRCA’s annual removal of booms and buoys underway

WELLINGTON COUNTY – Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) crews are completing the annual fall removal of safety booms and buoys over the coming days. 

The booms and buoys are installed each spring upstream of dams to alert paddlers, anglers and boaters to stay away from the dams. 

The removal of these buoys and booms is set to be completed by Oct. 31, depending on weather conditions. 

GRCA officials say removal is necessary as the buoys and booms would be damaged or displaced if left during the winter months during ice and high-water flow events.

The GRCA follows Transport Canada regulatory approvals which indicate safety booms or buoys should be in place during the navigation season (May to October).

“Dams can pose serious hazards that can result in injuries or even fatalities if warning signs are ignored,” officials stated. “Water surges through gates and valves or over the dams, creating strong undertows and currents around the structures, which can be extremely dangerous.”

The GRCA urges people to heed all warning signs and stay away from the dams for their own safety.

In addition to the installation of buoys and booms and associated signage, the GRCA attends community events to promote dam safety, and educates children about the hazards associated with dam structures through its Outdoor Environmental Education Program and at children’s water festivals, officials say. 

For more information about safety around dams, visit the GRCA website.

The post GRCA’s annual removal of booms and buoys underway appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.


Global News: Kitchener

Police concerned missing man is second victim in Ontario homicide investigation

OPP are searching for Robert Sykes, 49, feared to be a second victim in a Simcoe homicide after 71-year-old Barbara Morgan was found dead in a home Sunday.

Global News: Kitchener

14 people found in van during Highway 401 stop, human trafficking suspected

Fourteen people were found packed in a van during a Highway 401 traffic stop. OPP suspect human trafficking, and five foreign nationals were arrested on immigration warrants.

Global News: Kitchener

Jays have second best odds of winning World Series

The Toronto Blue Jays now have the second-best odds of winning the World Series.

Global News: Kitchener

Ontario hospital’s special room offers better pain relief for IUD, other gyno procedures

A hospital network in Ontario has established a specialized room that offers better pain relief for some gynecological procedures such as IUD insertions and removals.

Wellington Advertiser

Small businesses frustrated by postal strikes turn to private carriers

WELLINGTON COUNTY – Small business owners across Wellington County say the damage is done despite the Canadian Union of Postal Workers announcing a partial return to work on Oct. 11, following a walkout lasting over two weeks.

Scented Market owner Kristy Miller said the Guelph-based business, with a Fergus location, “used to use Canada Post 100 per cent, all the time.”

Last year’s four-week strike “definitely affected our sales,” Miller said.

The company now uses six private carriers to move roughly 500 orders each week of candles and body care and home décor products to customers.

During peak holiday season, the number of outgoing parcels ranges between 1,500 and 2,000.

“Canada Post used to show up here every day and pick up hundreds of parcels,” Miller said.

Now, Miller ensures customers “over and over again that we don’t use Canada Post.”

Roughly 53,000 unionized Canada Post workers walked off the job on Sept. 25 – their second strike in less than a year – in response to the federal government’s changes to the crown corporation, the most significant being an end to daily home delivery.

CUPW has said changes would result in job losses and potential post office closures.

The union and employer have been embattled in an almost two-year-long impasse to negotiate a contract.

Following an Oct. 8 meeting between the union and federal procurement minister Joël Lightbound, CUPW announced its nation-wide strike would be replaced with rotating strikes starting Oct. 11.

Delivery will slowly resume, but several small business owners have moved on from the national postal service after twice being left in the lurch.

Related Articles
  • Postal workers strike after feds move to end home delivery

Mary Lloyd, owner of Sensational You, a women’s undergarment store in Fergus, said the latest strike has created “another burden” for small businesses.

“I have lost patience and I don’t have a lot of empathy for the workers right now because it’s affecting business,” she said.

Lloyd, also a Wellington County councillor, said she returned to Canada Post after the first strike – but not this time around.

She’s now mailing two to four orders per week with Freightcom service ClickShip, which brings multiple carrier shipping options into one platform.

“Canada Post has had so many opportunities to modernize … and they never modernized,” Lloyd said.

With shipping costs already built into business plans, owners are forced to rethink pricing, Centre Wellington Chamber of Commerce CEO Brock Aldersley said.

“It adds to the already high costs of doing business in Ontario and Canada,” Aldersley noted.

“Shop and spend your money where you live; it’s what builds your community.”

Chris and Stephanie Bailey, owners of Brighten Up Toys and Games, with locations in Erin and Fergus, switched from Canada Post after the first strike.

“We just felt it wasn’t going to be reliable, so we just never went back,” Bailey said, adding, “there are so many other options.”

The Baileys are also using a Freightcom service, often choosing private companies like Purolator (majority owned by Canada Post) and Canpar.

“It’s going to hit that point where the entire thing is going to be privatized,” Bailey said.

‘As much as I want to support Canada Post, I can’t’

Freightcom marketing VP Michael Rochon said the company, and its e-commerce platform ClickShip, are the “Expedia of shipping,” connecting businesses with more than 50 carriers.

“We’ve had a pretty massive influx of new customers as result of the Canada Post strike,” Rochon said.

Canada Post loses more of its customer base with every strike, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) legislative affairs VP Ryan Mallough said.

“It’s a big ask to have a small business owner do a ton of research into every available option,” Mallough said.

That’s where companies like Freightcom, a CFIB partner, fill the void.

“There are a lot of options in the ecosystem, but Canada Post should still be one,” Mallough said.

He suggested the mail service should cover “areas that just don’t make economic sense for those other companies to service.”

Hides in Hand owner Teresa Paul, who designs and creates leather goods in Erin, now relies on private carriers to deliver 20 to 30 orders per week.

“As much as I want to support Canada Post, I can’t do this when I run a business,” she said.

“They don’t give you any notice and boom, they’re shut down again.”

Erin residents Brent and Annette Kilner, owners of Mississauga-based The Playing Card Factory, manufacture custom-made card decks.

The Kilners have relied on Canada Post to ship roughly 12 weekly orders of smaller deck quantities via letter mail.

The cost is usually better than private carriers, Brent said, which have rural delivery restrictions and don’t do post office boxes.

“People do complain they’re being forced to use a more expensive service now,” he said.

The price on some smaller product quantities has been adjusted to just above cost, with the company absorbing the hit.

‘We’ve taken quite a big hit’

Tia Biro, who co-owns TNT Fishing Lures with Ty Henry, said her trust in the postal service is broken.

The couple manufactures and distributes lures across the globe from Harriston.

“It affects us greatly because Canada Post was our most inexpensive method,” Biro said.

A retailer in Chile orders around 800 to 2,000 lures this time of year, but shipping costs with private carriers are double or triple that of Canada Post’s.

Biro and Henry dealt with the same problem during last year’s strike.

Ultimately the Chilean retailer ate the cost, but Biro and Henry have covered some of the difference out-of-pocket to make it economical to ship North American and local orders.

Biro has made a trip across the border once already to get packages out of Canada and into the U.S. postal system, but she said that’s unsustainable.

With postal disruptions and prohibitively expensive shipping costs with carriers like DHL or Purolator, customers aren’t placing orders.

Carriers also won’t deliver to the more remote places that Canada Post is mandated to serve

Orders have fallen to, at most, 20 in a week, from an average of 30 to 60 per week.

“We’ve taken quite a big hit,” Biro said.

She noted when postal workers strike, it puts small businesses out. And yet she understands employees needing full-time work that pays a living wage.

“I hope that our government understand this,” she said. “We have to have a more reliable postal service.”

Canada Post did not immediately reply to an Advertiser request for comment.

The post Small businesses frustrated by postal strikes turn to private carriers appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.


Spoke Online

From passion, to distraction, and eventual fruition: How art moved Trevor Clare

If you asked Trevor Clare six years ago if he could see himself painting nostalgic locations for a living, he probably would have said that’s a “wild” idea.

Back then, Clare didn’t see art as a serious hobby, let alone a full-time career. If anything, he saw painting as a way to distract himself from his mental battles.

But what Clare didn’t realize was that his digital recreations of iconic neon signs, beloved mom-and-pop shops, and other nostalgic landmarks in Kitchener and Waterloo would do more than just help him deal with his mental health struggles. It drew in a community who appreciated how his expertise on colour theory, values, and balance turned digital art into something that brought back warm, fuzzy memories they so cherished.

Clare transformed what originally was just a personal distraction into something emotionally powerful and impactful for everyone around him.

Clare is a multimedia artist from Kitchener. He painted most of his life using traditional media focusing on landscapes and architecture. He also dabbled in graphic design for about 15 years. The Kitchener artist only started digitally painting nostalgic locations near his house on Guelph Street, just off Lancaster Street to keep his mind busy six years ago, when he was left unemployed and mentally struggling.

He wanted to get away from the “endless ruminations and unhealthy coping patterns.”

“I’m a very nostalgic person by heart,” he said. “I started capturing these [nostalgic] places because I felt like they really kind of spoke to me somehow.”

“I realized just how powerful that emotion was.”

This love for emotion and nostalgia is what made Clare gravitate towards painting places that were familiar to him, especially ones that had sentimental value. It’s this same ability – encapsulating emotion in art – that drew people to his work.

♦Trevor Clare displaying his art in an exhibition. Photo by Habila Sani Mazawaje from Stuffedbox, Submitted by Trevor Clare

“Paintings must give a sense of comfort for many people, perhaps tinged with sadness for times and memories of the past,” Joan Coutu said of Clare’s artwork.

Coutu is a fine arts professor at the University of Waterloo. She teaches visual culture and art history courses. She classifies Clare’s art as “iconic local heritage paintings influenced by American Realism.”

The style is not new. There’s a long tradition to what Clare is doing. Coutu said that painting nostalgic scenes, especially rural ones, was “extremely popular in Europe and North America in the 19th century.”

American painter and illustrator Edward Hopper is a good example of an artist who focuses on the emotions and anxieties of everyday life in his art. According to the National Gallery of Art, Hopper had a “recognizable style in which ordinary places [such as] motels, gas stations, restaurants, while realistically rendered, are pervaded with a sense of estrangement or loneliness.”

Hopper is one of Clare’s inspirations for his work.

“I think that was important to [Hopper]… the nostalgia and the emotional part of architecture and place,” he said.

It’s what Clare captures in his creations. His painting of the Schneiders sign on Highway 401, he says, is an example of how art can remind people about memories and emotions they might have forgotten.

♦Clare’s digital rendition of the Schneiders neon sign on Highway 401. Taken from Clare’s Instagram account with his permission.

“It’s kind of like a landmark where we’re like, okay, we know we’re 20 minutes from home, welcome back,” he said. “The warmth of the neon… [it] really is an emotional thing for people.”

Clare transitioned to painting as a full-time job last November 2024. He sees the lucrative potential in his art. At the same time, he knows he’s running a business out of a passion; balance is paramount.

He doesn’t always paint a location just because people want him to do it.

“Would I be able to convey it in a way that would be powerful in an artistic capacity, not just the story itself?”

It’s a question he often asks himself – or rather one of many. There are many things about business that Clare doesn’t understand, especially as someone who doesn’t have an “entrepreneurial spirit.”

But again, he’s a dreamer.

“I would love to do a Canadian version of this where it’s cities across Canada or potentially worldwide,” he said with enthusiasm.

Through it all, Clare wants to make sure he doesn’t lose sight of his original goal. That is, to paint these places that are so near and dear to people’s hearts with sincerity, and not with money in his mind.

“At the end of the day, it is about community and connecting with everybody,” he said.

“That is still most important to me.”


Global News: Kitchener

Ontario declares measles outbreak over after nearly a year of spread

Ontario's measles outbreak, which sickened more than 2,300 people over the course of nearly a year has been declared over.

Global News: Kitchener

Thorold man pleads guilty to neo-Nazi terrorism charges, could face 20 years in prison

Matthew Althorpe, 29, pleaded guilty in Toronto to three terrorism charges linked to the neo-Nazi group and admitted to producing violent propaganda promoting mass attacks.

Global News: Kitchener

Family, advocates condemn assault on Muslim man at Ontario hotel

The family of a Muslim hotel worker seriously injured in an alleged hate-motivated assault said the attack in Markham, Ont., has left them fearful.

Global News: Kitchener

RCMP’s ‘thorough’ Greenbelt investigation reaches 2-year mark

It was November 2022 when the province announced it would remove 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt to accommodate plans to build 50,000 new homes.

Global News: Kitchener

Disability advocate concerned TDSB meeting changes will shut parents out

A prominent disability advocate says the Ford government's decision to stop live-streaming meetings at the school boards it has taken over is "troubling and undemocratic."

Global News: Kitchener

Jays to find out ALCS opponent tonight

The Toronto Blue Jays will find out who they will play in the American League Championship Series after tonight's Game 5 of the Division Series between the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers.