(soft upbeat music) - Fergus is located in the
middle of southern Ontario. Beautiful area on the banks
of the Mid Grand River Valley. - The town of Fergus is an
incredible place to live, so it's no wonder so many
people wanna move here. - There's definitely a renewal of people coming
up to this area. People just wanted to
get out of the city. Our growth will be pronounced. - By 2050, we're gonna be
double where we are right now, if not a little more than that. - We were very concerned
about the
impact on the park, the river, our community. - That a healthy
river is critical for the future of the
success of our town. - The only way to grow out
is to grow in farmland, and you need to remember
where food is grown. - We need to grow,
we'll struggle if we It's a real mixed bag of stuff that we're gonna have to
manage into the future. (soft upbeat music) (soft upbeat music) - [Narrator] Situated on
the cascading Grand River, the town of Fergus is
brimming with quaint charm. From the scenic w
aterfalls
and limestone gorge to its annual Scottish Festival. (bright traditional music) The culture and history
of Fergus truly runs deep. But recently, residents are finding
themselves at a crossroads as the town's popularity
is skyrocketing and the government is
pressuring the community to commit to a period
of dedicated growth over the next 30 years. As local activists scramble to protect Fergus
historic properties and community leaders fight
for a seat at the table, Fergus is at a critical
time in its growth. - Fergus, to me, has
always been very unique because of its
Scottish heritage. (bright traditional music) - I look forward to the
Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games. - Everyone looks forward to
the Scottish Highland Games, it's just part of who Fergus is. - The music, the
dance, the drink. - Cheers.
- Cheers. - Cheers. - It's just
everything's Scottish so that the Scottish
history of the peoples, especially of the
area, especially of is really well presented. - It's
a world class festival
and I have up to 40,000 people that come to our
community over the weekend and it's an important
component of our community and people come to it
from all over the world. (bright traditional music) - [Narrator] The Highland Games
takes place over three days each August and includes
everything from highland dancing to pipe bands and parades. This year, Fergus is hosting the World
Heavy Events Championship, inviting the planet's best
and strongest athletes to compete agains
t
their hometown talent. (audience applauding) (bright upbeat music) - So today we are at
the Heavy Event School as part of the Fergus
Scottish Festival. (bright upbeat music) Nice job. It's a two day event. So today we learn, we practice
with all the implements and all the different events. Tomorrow we actually
have a competition, so we do all nine
events tomorrow. I love lifting things. I started as a a powerlifter. My son actually, who's
over here also, came to me, I don't know, he was
maybe
16, 17, he's like, "I really wanna learn how
to do those heavy events." And I'm like, "I know a guy." (bright upbeat music) - Okay, that's the
way, that's the way. Oh, there you go. How about that, hey?
(audience applauding) Nice work. - I'm Warren Trask and I
was born in Fergus in 1965. Spent my whole life here. (bright upbeat music) The first time I turned the
caver was 39 years ago this week and I've been doing it
all summer since then and I've probably done 500 games and that's what
one turn
did to me. Was that it introduced
me to a life of sport, it's taken me around the world. My kids are involved in it now. Jamie's teaching
here and carrying on, I guess family tradition. (bright upbeat music) - I tell people that I've
been going to Highland Games for 26 years, I'm 25 years old. People come up to me and say
that they remember my mom being at Highland Games when
she was pregnant with me. And I think I was
taken to a lot of games before I could even walk. So it's been around
me my
whole life. (bright upbeat music) The different events
that we do are the stone, the weights for distance, the hammers, the weight for height, the
sheath toss, and the caver. I would say that they're all
pretty difficult to learn because a lot of people think that they can just
muscle things out but a lot of it's technique. (bright upbeat music) - You can go around the world and people know where Fergus is. Like, I can go to
Scotland and oh yeah, "I was in Fergus four years ago "and one of the b
est
games I've ever been to." Or like it just doesn't matter
where you go in the world, if you talk Highland Games,
Fergus is the games that's known so to be able to be from
the games that's known, it's pretty neat. - [Narrator] While
Fergus is recognized as a historically
Scottish community, the town's history
begins hundreds of years before the first
settlers arrived. - Fergus is located in the
middle of southern Ontario. If you drew an arrow from
Toronto, from Barrie, from Owen Sound, we'd be
right
in the middle of everything. But it is a beautiful area on the banks of the
Mid-Grand River Valley. The very first indigenous people
were actually the neutrals. They occupy the area
for hundreds of years. - Their lands were largely
in between the Huron who were up in the Georgian
Bay area and the Iroquois who were based mainly
in the Finger Lakes area of New York state. When the fur trade
became very prominent, there was a rivalry between
the Hurons who were supported by the French and th
e English
support of the Iroquois. Because the neutrals
had assisted the Hurons, they became the next
enemy of the Iroquois and their fate was similar
to that of the Hurons. They were pretty much decimated. So the area then came under
the control of the Six Nations. - Scottish settlers had
heard about the area but they really
didn't start to arrive until the early 1830s. They were really after land
which was readily available. Joseph Brant, who was the
chief of the Six Nations, was selling land
in order
that he could actually build schools and churches and things
on the reserve in Branford. - [Narrator] The
land caught the eye of two Scottish politicians, Adam Ferguson and James Webster, who quickly jumped
on the opportunity. - Adam Ferguson
and James Webster purchased 7,400 acres of land that became the village
of Fergus in 1833. - Adam Ferguson provided a
lot of the financial help but it was James Webster who remained here in
the fledgling settlement to help get things started. And t
he site was chosen because
there was waterfalls here. In fact, there were two. In the 1830s, water power was
the ultimate kind of power, so a fast flowing river were essential to
establishing a community. - Ferguson and Webster
were very pleased with the Grand River. It was known for its limestone, which was important to
Ferguson and Webster if they wanted to
build a settlement. But it was even more
important for the water because the water
would run mills and mills were very
important for any s
ettlement. - [Narrator] Ferguson and
Webster wasted no time, and within two years
of the town's founding, they had built a hotel,
church, school and a mill. Once the mill was
constructed in 1835, it quickly took center
stage in the town. - The first mill in Fergus
wasn't used for wheat, it was used for oatmeal. Oatmeal was very important to
the Scottish folk, of course. (bright upbeat music) Fergus was very well
known as a farming center because of the land around
here, it was very fertile and c
ould grow anything and that's what a lot of the
Scottish settlers came to do. A lot of them didn't
have the money that Ferguson and Webster had. They bought farmland and they
grew apples, they grew wheat, they grew oatmeal. - As the settlement grew, there was more need
for a second mill. - [Narrator] The Monkland
Mill was built in 1856 and its huge production capacity turned the oats produced
in Fergus into oatmeal, a household staple. - The Monkland mills were huge and they were a
very importan
t part, not only for Ontario at
the time, but for Scotland because they actually
exported more oats to Scotland than were growing in Scotland. And they exported
oats all over Ontario and also into Quebec. It actually became known as
oatmeal capital of Canada and it really put
Fergus on the map. There were two really big booms; the first one was when
the settlers began The second boom came
after the railway came and they could ship more goods because they shipped the
goods all over the world. - T
he first rail line
that came through Fergus was the Wellington,
Grey and Bruce line. It came in in 1870. It eventually became the
Canadian Pacific line. It was important
because it connected these little mill
towns to larger cities, and this was initially
economically very lucrative. - [Narrator] Fergus' Mill
industry would continue soaring over the next 100 years,
providing oats and flour for some of Canada's
largest companies such as General Mills and Heinz. But when the Beatty
Brothers arrive
d in 1874, they launched a whole
new wave of prosperity in the small town. George and Matthew Beatty moved from the nearby
town of Caledon because they saw Fergus
as the prime place to open up their
manufacturing business. - George and Matthew Beatty
set up a foundry in Fergus on St. Andrews Street and they took over the
original Temperance Hall. They were Irish Methodists and I think they were
considered to be newcomers for quite a while because
they weren't Scottish, they weren't Presbyterian,
and
they were a little different than the majority
of the population. - [Narrator] The
brothers quickly made creating implements and
machinery for the many farmers in and around Fergus. Before long, their
business took off and they began
acquiring more factories in the downtown core. - They just grew
and kept building and they ended up with
two very large factories. Beatty brothers were very
much a Canadian powerhouse as far as manufacturing
was concerned. - They certainly became one
of the lar
gest employers of people in Fergus and ultimately, they
were by far the biggest. The Beatty enterprise was the
backbone of the economic life in Fergus. In particular, the 20s were
very good economic period for Fergus. Even the depression was
not quite as extreme in a town like Fergus because there was a lot
of employment available. - [Narrator] Through
the early 20th century, the manufacturing industry
in Fergus was booming. Swarms of people moved to
the area to work in factories and the town wa
s rapidly
expanding with new businesses, restaurants and more. But in the 1950s, the
community hit a crossroad as the lure of the railroads began drawing people
away from the small town. - The milling industry at
first was certainly assisted by having railway transportation and many implement dealerships,
distilleries, breweries began to thrive and expand but ultimately, the
railroads became the diphenol because there were larger
mills, larger breweries, larger distilleries
in the cities and Mon
kland Mills was an exception in that it survived
into the 1980s. It was an economic downturn,
not a collapse by any means, but people suddenly could
go to the larger centers and shop in other areas. And this really turned things
around for the smaller towns because the goods that were
available in the larger cities could be sold at a
much lower price. - [Narrator] In
addition to competing with the larger cities, Fergus
also had local competition in the nearby town of Elora, which is only five
ki
lometers southwest. - The location of Fergus
is a very interesting one from another point of view because there was
another mill town that had been founded just
one year previous in 1832, and that town was called Elora. And it's not uncommon for
mill towns in particular, to be rivals but the rivalry between these
two towns was much deeper. It was sparked by a man by
the name of Charles Allen, who was one of the
leading lights in Fergus, both as a builder and as a
social leader and a politician.
And having lost an
election in 1842 in Fergus to the co-founder James
Webster, Charles Allen decided to pack up and leave for
the rival town of Elora. And from that time forward,
it became a rivalry that had to do with
politics, civic pride, and economic growth. A good example of the rivalry
was in the early 20th century when both towns were
planning a new post office, Elora was able to
build theirs first. Fergus built it the year later and they made sure
that their tower was at least 12 feet
ta
ller than Elora's. There were many cases
where the two towns just did not see eye to eye. Eventually though, in
1967, centennial year, the two towns decided that
they would find neutral ground, which happened to
be in the front of what is now the Wellington
County Museum and Archives, they would close that
highway between them, march behind bands
have a big celebration and bury a hatchet,
literally bury a hatchet. And in the hatchet
there was also a scroll, a document of peace. - [Narrator] As m
anufacturing
became more efficient, the need for mills declined
and the job landscape in both Fergus and Elora
changed drastically. When the last mill
closed in 1980, the towns had to
quickly shift gears and find new economic
opportunities. Then in 1999, Wellington
County made the decision to amalgamate seven communities,
including Fergus and Elora into one township called
Center Wellington, bringing the two towns
even closer together. Over the last 25
years, Fergus and Elora have banded togethe
r in
an effort to boost tourism and strengthen their economy. Combined, the towns have created
a booming tourism industry that brings in tens of
millions of dollars a year and employees
thousands of people. - In really early days
where people were attracted to this area because
people would travel up and visit the gorge. Probably the next
stage of tourism came through in the 60s and 70s. Hippies would come up to this
area and started businesses because again,
they were attracted by sort of the n
atural beauty. And then obviously now,
especially through COVID, there's been
definitely a renewal of people coming up to this
area because during COVID, people just wanted to
get out of the city. (soft upbeat music) - The Templin Gardens are
probably the most beautiful location along the
river in Fergus (soft upbeat music) and they were a combination
of gardens and beautiful walls and a gate and steps
leading down to the river. (soft upbeat music) Again, Scottish Masons at work
and it's a place
of beauty that was built by
John C. Templin. He was a school teacher,
a son of a carriage maker, and he had the
time and the energy and the know-how to build
this beautiful place. And there's a lovely new
walking bridge there as well. So it's a very popular
attraction for visitors. (bright upbeat music) ♪ Band away ♪ ♪ We'll go with our axes right ♪ ♪ They'll glance in the
sun like a diamond bright ♪ ♪ And soon we'll be heard
along the Grand River wide ♪ ♪ The sound of our ax
as we notch per si
de ♪ ♪ And it's tramp, tramp,
tramp, the boys are marching ♪ - Away they go ♪ Cheer up, let the rebel come ♪ - [Narrator] While tourism has kept the Fergus
economy thriving, (bright upbeat music) it's popularity has brought
about a new challenge. During the COVID-19 pandemic,
more people discovered the town as a means of
escaping the larger cities with many visitors deciding to permanently move
to the quaint town. This hasn't gone unnoticed
by the Ontario government, which has recognized the are
a as a huge opportunity
for growth. In 2022, the
provincial government assigned a minimum growth
target for Wellington County with the majority of the
population targeted for Fergus. The forecasted growth will
bring in extra 30,000 people, 11,000 housing units, and
over 14,000 jobs to the area over the next 30 years, - Our growth will be pronounced. We'll move from a population
about 30,000 to about 60,000. So that's doubling in size, so people will will
see that impact. It's probably a
substant
ive of a growth we've seen since the
founding of Fergus. Hey, how are ya? - [Speaker] Good, Mr.
Mayor, how are you? - Good to see you. We expect a lot
of people tonight. - Oh, we do, yes.
- Okay. - Coming into the first
Scottish Festival, we're looking probably
into the hundreds. (bright upbeat music) - I ran for Mayor and
Center Wellington, I was concerned like all folks in terms of what was
happening in growth, and I knew that the growth was
gonna be pretty substantive in our community. Look a
t this,
Fergus, I love the- Every time I've had
the opportunity to I've talked about these
changes that are coming and it's not something
to be fearful of. In Canada, we've
been really good at developing
single family homes but we're gonna need a
variety of housing stock within our community. Traditionally, our
communities have been three and maybe four stories high but we could grow as
high as 10 stories. We live in a very
historic community and there's lots of history here in terms of the arch
itecture, I think sometimes people look
at those types of structure as in conflict with
historic buildings. I think a lot of this can
be accommodated by design and I think architects and
designers have demonstrated that they can do that. We need to grow. Is it a question of if
we don't grow, we die? No, not quite. But it might be a question
that will struggle if we don't have growth. We have baby boomers coming out. You look at any
industry or business, one of their number one
issues trying to f
ind staff. In my mind, for us
to be successful, we there's a reason why
you want to live here and we can't afford to
miss that opportunity. - [Narrator] As the local
government works quickly to develop expansion plans, some of the community members have found themselves
at a crossroads. They're grateful for
newcomers interests in Fergus but are also determined to
preserve and protect their home. - I spent a lot of years
commuting to Fergus for the fishery, and what brought me here
truly was the
fishery. We loved the town, we loved
the beauty of the town and all of the other incredible
parts of this community is what makes this
such an amazing place for us to raise our family, in addition to obviously
a great fishery. I love fly fishing for a
number of different reasons. For me, it's the
connectivity to nature. It's not always about
catching the fish, that's a bit of a bonus, but it's the being
knee deep in the water and watching the aquatic
life and the birds and the bugs around me tha
t
it's my meditation spot. - [Narrator] The Grand River remains Fergus' most
recognizable and The 300 kilometer Long River
starts north of the town in the village of Dundalk and runs through
the heart of Fergus, eventually emptying
into Lake Erie. - The Grand River offers a truly a world-class
brown trout fishery. It's not uncommon for
someone to be walking up and down the river banks and
meet someone from Scotland or Australia or New Zealand, often the northern
United States. It really does dra
w
from far and wide. The fishery itself
actually generates roughly 2.5 to $3
million in tourism for Center Wellington,
Fergus, Elora annually. - [Narrator] With international
interest in the river escalating each year, concerned
residents decided to form the Friends of the Grand
River to develop, promote and implement projects
that protect the waterway. - Friends of the Grand River
is a conservation group, fully volunteer run that is
focused on the preservation and enhancement of
the Grand River
. So trying to keep a balance
between environment, urban growth, and maintain a
strong fishery and ecosystem. And when we talk about
10,000 new residents over the next 10 years, all of these things need to
be taken into consideration. As Fergus, Elora, Center
Wellington continues to grow, a lot of properties
are being clear cut down to the banks of the river which removes the root
systems of the trees and the shrubs and the
bushes and the plants, which eventually
leads to erosion 'cause water ca
n now sweep
away the soil that's there. So how do we keep a
balance of this river? For seven years, I've been
on the board of directors with Friends of the Grand River and I've led a number
of different projects from trail maintenance to fish
stocking, to tree planting, garbage cleanup,
educational seminars. There are things that we
need to continue to monitor as we do grow as a town. - So I became involved with
the Friends of Grand River about two and a half,
three years ago. (soft upbeat music
) I am the committee
representative for our water quality studies. - We have seen a decline
in the trout fishery over the last number of years. We're trying to figure
out why that might be, is it water quality? - To do this kind of sampling, we basically just go to
a river with these nets and we put them on
the stream bottom and then we'll do a
specific type of kick, which lodges up all
the substrate and and the algae will
fall into our net. We have these filters at the end and everything
except
for the water stays in these little tubes. And then afterwards we do all
the ID work back in the lab. (soft upbeat music) These are the organisms that
live on the bottom of a river, any water body, but they can tell us some
really interesting things about the river just by
looking at what's present and what's not. Then that can kinda give us
a little bit of a indication of what's going on in the river and what's going on
with the water quality. - There is an increase
in water temperature, we're
up about 1.5
degrees to two degrees over the last 20 years. Warmer water impacts
everything on our river. The trout fishery of course, but warmer water
earlier in the year impacts the algae blooms
and the plant life growth in the water which
impacts the bug life, which impacts the bird migration and the types of species that
can survive and thrive here. - [Narrator] In addition
to their daily work protecting the river, the
group are also making plans that will help preserve
the quality of the w
ater for future generations. - So there's a lot of education that Friends of the Grand
River will continue to do. A lot of work with the township and those decision making
bodies to try and make sure that the voice of the river is
at every table that matters. (soft upbeat music) There's just something
about this river that draws so much
outta this community and adds so much to the
fiber of the history and the future of what
Fergus has been and will be. I am so proud of the work that
Friends of t
he Grand River has done. Almost 30 years of
work on this river; the fishery, the cleanups,
the garbage, the trees, like everywhere you go,
you can see the footprint of an all volunteer
organization. Every stakeholder
that's involved knows that a healthy river is critical for the future of the
success of our town. - [Narrator] For centuries,
activity in Fergus has always been centered
around the Grand River, making its riverbanks home to some of the most
historic properties in town. While the com
munity prepares
for its impending boom, historians are hoping they can
get ahead of the development and put plans in place to
protect the prized property. - Sometimes local history
books will inform us that white settlement
took place here initially along the upper Grand
River, when in fact, some nine or 10 years previous
to the founding of Fergus and Elora, there was
a small settlement of free African slaves called
the Pierpoint Settlement. (soft upbeat music) - So the piece of land
that you're
standing on now was formerly owned
by Richard Pierpoint, the loyalist Richard Pierpoint, and he was given
100 acres of land and so, this became
a settlement. When I first arrived, my
initial thought is that this is a hidden gem. The entire area,
not only Fergus, but the entire extended
area is a hidden gem because of the rich historical
Black settlement in the area. - [Narrator] The expansive
Pierpoint Settlement, now known as the Pierpoint
Fly Fishing and Nature Reserve lies northeast of
the t
own center directly on the banks
of the Grand River. - Richard Pierpoint was the
leader of this settlement. - Richard Pier is a
trailblazer, he is a survivor. He was captured at 16 years old and he went to the state
as an enslaved person. - [Narrator] A British
officer purchased Pierpoint and enslaved him for 20 years
in his home in Virginia. Then in 1775, the
governor granted freedom to all enslaved people in exchange for their
service in the military. Pierpoint enlisted with
the Butlers Ranger
s who were stationed
in the Niagara region through the American
Revolutionary War. - He took the opportunity, went there with the
American Revolution to fight for his freedom. He got his freedom
and then after that, again, he fought
in the war of 1812. - As a captain in
the war of 1812, he was one of the many
officers that was granted land up in this area. So that would've
been in 1822 or '23. Certainly it was much earlier
than the settlement of Fergus. - He was a community leader
and he loved h
is people. - He was a leader not only
for this small settlement but also for people that had come through
the Underground Railroad. - [Narrator] The
Pierpoint Settlement was known as a
peaceful community for people who were
either fleeing enslavement from the United States or
searching for communal living alongside other Black Canadians. - Standing here on this property
is very wonderful for us. It gives us a great feeling
of belonging in this area, that we are not just
here, that we belong here
. It's a part of Canadian history. We have to submit
the application to the Public Health Department two weeks prior to the event. - So Richard Pierpoint
was designated a national historic person
and that's wonderful. We are happy that Canada
is giving him the respect that he is due and we feel
that more can be done. I'm the founder and the chair of the Central Wellington
Black Committee, and it was formed because we
wanted to have representation here in Center Wellington and also to give
honor
recognition to the trailblazers of the area. And so by even being here, we could hear the ancestors'
voices calling out to us. So it is very
emotional being here. We want to ensure that the
spark is being restored. There's a lot of things
that needs to be done. As you see all of the
overgrown bushes and so on and the scrubs, we believe that it could be
spruce up a little bit more and make it more in par with the other parks
around the area. - [Narrator] Millicent and
the Wellington Black Committ
ee aren't the only activists
looking to support and protect the park. When a large project
was announced that would directly impact
the ecosystem of the park, a group of nearby residents
and nature enthusiasts jumped into action. - The original land
allotment was 100 acres and this park is
down to 10 acres which is one of the reasons why it's important to preserve it. - Pierpoint Neighborhood
Group was formed in the fall of 2021 in response to a Wellington
County transportation proposal to build
a bridge across
the Grand River right below Pierpoint Park and
to have a truck route come up through Anderson Street which would basically
bisect our neighborhood. And we were very concerned
about the impact on the park, the river, our community. The Center of Wellington
Black Committee is a very important
collaborator for us and also a voice as an
advocate for the park. And so, it's a natural
affiliation that we have with Millicent and her group. We have a common goal here. (soft upbeat music)
- Richard Pierpoint
is a significant Canadian historical figure and
so that's one of the reasons to preserve his land, what is
left of his 100 acreage here. It's the 10 acre park. The other reasons
are the fly fishing. I think people come to
fly fish for solitude. People come to fly fish
to be part of nature. It is a catch and
release fly fishing area. They're coming here to fly
fish, to be part of nature, to enjoy nature for
their mental health. And that's the other part
of the name of the par
k, it's a nature reserve. When you come here in the
morning or the evening and you just stand and
listen, the amount of birds that you can identify, even
at nighttime, it's incredible. There's many teachers
who bring the kids here to learn both about Richard
Pierpoint and Black history as well as environmental aspects
of learning that occur here that we should not
allow to disappear by building a truck bypass through a very important,
significant piece of land. - We're not against progress and w
e agree that we need a
long-term transportation plan and we need to accommodate
our transportation needs in our community,
it's very important, but a very important
part of planning is to recognize the things
that need to be changed and keep the things
that are good. And that's what
we're trying to do, keep the things that are good. - [Narrator] Alongside
the grassroots movements, there are plans of motion that
would officially recognize all of Fergus' historic land. Recently the town council
ca
lled in a heritage specialist to help protect the
land once and for all. - My work focuses on
assisting municipalities in identifying their
cultural heritage resources and helping identify them and
plan and help manage change in and around those resources. Here in Fergus,
Center Wellington, well, to me, is an obvious
culture heritage landscape. It has so much significance
in terms of its history, in terms of how it's
shaped the landscape and how people moved and how people use and
how people set
tled. We sometimes conduct cultural
heritage landscape studies for municipalities and we did one for the
township of Center Wellington. We did a lot of
background research to get an understanding
of the place. We ended up identifying a number of potential
cultural heritage landscapes and then went through
a series of steps in terms of evaluating them. And through this
evaluation process, we ended up recommending that 18 significant
cultural heritage landscapes be identified by the
township as be
ing such. - [Narrator] Despite the
extensive list of sites, Pierpoint Park wasn't
initially selected as a heritage landscape
by Annie and her team but supporters of the park encouraged them to
revisit the idea. - This area was identified
by the community as being important and
we found there was a gap in our knowledge of the area and we discovered that not
only was this place significant because of its associations
with Richard Pierpoint but its associations with other
themes that are significan
t to the township of
Center Wellington, one of which was
environmental stewardship. So by taking those two
stories and overlapping them, we found that the Pierpoint
fly fishing Nature Reserve would be an ideal
place to recognize. So the township is going
through that process right now. We've completed a report and
will be presented to council, I think shortly and this
park should be designated in the next few months. - [Narrator] This is a huge win for the Pierpoint
Park supporters and it's comi
ng
at a crucial time. The town will need to
begin development very soon to accommodate the
government mandated growth. - It's gonna be a
combination of things, we're going to grow up in
terms of physically get taller and also there's gonna be
pressure for it to grow out, which again, becomes a
little bit problematic in terms of that involves
agricultural land. Fergus and the surrounding lands are some of the best
agricultural lands, not only in the province
but all of Canada for we're surrounded
by class one land, which is the highest
classification for We supply food and commodities
throughout Ontario, throughout North America. It's really land that
we have production that share with the world. (soft upbeat music) And it's important that
we understand its value and maintain that value and
we really try to protect it. (soft upbeat music) (soft upbeat music) - [Narrator] Janet
Harrop and her family have been in the Fergus
farming community for decades. (soft upbeat music) - [Janet] Grea
t, but there's two more down
here that need a bottle and dad's got a bottle too. Ready? Can you put your
hands underneath? - [Ryan] There you go. - There you go. - [Narrator] They're
one of many families that have already seen
the impact of local growth and are working with the town to carefully navigate
the coming years. - We've been on this farm
since 1985, my husband and I, and I actually grew up just
15 minutes north of here on a dairy farm as well. Our main commodity is
we're a dairy farm.
We milk about 115 to 120 cows and we produce about 4,000
liters of milk every day. For a family farm run by
three full-time people, for us to be able to produce
16,000 glasses of milk a day is pretty efficient. We're very proud of that. - I've been here as long as I
can remember and I enjoy it. I love it. Since the cows are my thing,
it's like my sanctuary. I love it out here. (soft upbeat music) - I'm the president of the Wellington
Federation of Agriculture. We've been doing a fair bit of
work
just to bring the voice of farming and understanding
the economic impact of farming in Wellington County
and what it means. (soft upbeat music) Land use in the area,
urban expansion, in particular Fergus and Elora, but mostly Fergus
is a huge issue. We have very productive
farmland in this area and this is what we do. This is what we love. This is what we were
put on this earth to do. So you have to look at the
agriculture industry as a whole and the encroachment of
all of that land being lost
is a huge risk for
food sovereignty and food security in this area. If we keep growing
homes on them, we're gonna be more and more
dependent on other countries and other places
to import our food. The only way to grow out
is to grow in farmland and you need to remember
where food is grown, where the food
that's on your plate, the local food that has less
of a a carbon footprint. It's really important
that we grow up, meaning that we grow taller. So whether it's those single
story retail strip ma
lls that now have
housing above them, whether it's new
builds that grow up, whether they were two
stories or three stories, maybe we need to consider four
or five, even six stories now to be able to provide those
services to those people and keep them within
the urban boundary. - [Narrator] Recently, the
introduction of a new bill by the Ontario government
has added more pressure to the tense atmosphere in
the agricultural community. When Bill 97 was
passed in June 2023, it gave cities permissio
n
to expand their boundaries to free up more land for
housing developments. - Initially, when
we were looking at what the urban
expansion would be, we were looking at about
1,000 acres of land that would be taken out
of productive farmland and included in
the urban boundary and be growing
houses and industry. And then the province
came out with Bill 97 and they added an
additional 1,000 acres. So now we're looking at, on
paper, 2,000 acres of land that is productive farmland,
class one farmland,
that is looking
at being targeted to be in the urban
boundary and have homes and industry built on it. Farmers are very conflicted
around urban expansion because the margins
in agriculture and the cost in agriculture are becoming
tighter and tighter. And so if you have the ability
to make a significant profit by selling your farm,
it's very enticing. We as farmers know that
growth is happening and we also need
workers ourselves and those workers and our
children need a place to live. So we know
that we need housing, we know there will be growth but the growth has to be planned and the growth has to be smart. (soft upbeat music) - [Narrator] The complexities
of Fergus' projected growth also puts the
healthcare industry in While local health officials
want to welcome new patients with open arms, there aren't
enough doctors to go around. - I've worked in lots of
towns that are not growing and are maybe even
shrinking or having trouble with a lot of the
young people leaving. Fergus is not
like that. The young people here stay. If they go away, they
tend to come back. And now lots of new people
are moving in from other areas as well who've never
lived here before. Oh hey, perfect, so I
just finished up with 824, she's good to go,
she's gonna head out. The hospital here is a bit
unique where it's fairly big, we're around 50 beds and
we run a full 24 hour merge but we're basically
completely family doctor run. We do the deliveries, we run
the emergency department, we do all the ane
sthesia and then we have some
specialist support for that but basically family
doctors kinda run the show. You're really embedded
in your community. People know who you are,
it's very fulfilling. Like I think it really
makes you feel like, "Okay, I'm doing
something here." But you kinda have this feeling like you're really needed here. Like you're really
filling a purpose. It's not just a nine to five
job that you're going to. (soft upbeat music) As the community grows, I mean
by 2050 we're gonn
a be double where we are right now, if
not a little more than that, we're also gonna need
double the physicians. And that's interesting because those people do not
exist right now in the system because traditionally
what's happened is that as somebody
retires, somebody comes in, somebody retires,
somebody comes in. But now we actually
need physicians just to take on
completely new patients who have not had a
local family doctor and that's a challenge that
we haven't really faced before where we
really need to start
recruiting this massive number of new physicians. We're sitting around 34
physicians right now. It goes up and down a bit. None of us are full-time because everyone works in the
hospital or does other things. And we look after just
over 30,000 patients with that number of doctors. So if our population is gonna
get up to around 50 to 60,000, we're likely gonna need an
additional 30 physicians the way we work right now. And we just don't have
that pool to draw from and to be a
ble to set
them up with new patients, so they need clinic space. And then they're also
trying to set up a practice which requires buying
computers and exam beds, none of that is paid for. We pay for all of our
infrastructure ourselves outside the hospital. So it's a huge challenge to try to get new people coming
into a community like this. (soft upbeat music) There's no magic pool
of extra doctors, right? Like there's no, everyone
is in the same boat. We're all in the same
boat across the provin
ce. And even Ottawa
has a high, high, huge number of unattached
patients right now with no family doctor. Montreal has a huge
number right now, all across the country
this is happening so there's no magic
solution to what's going on. When I think about the future
of healthcare in this region, my hope is that
we'll be able to stay very community centered, really serving the
needs of our community. I think the projected growth is something we have
to take very seriously and I think it
will change
aspects of how healthcare is delivered. So we just have to
be open-minded and that are gonna work differently
than what we've seen before, they may or may
not live locally. I think we just have
to work together and see how things unfold
and plan really well. - [Narrator] Over
the next 10 years, Fergus will encounter
many challenges as thousands of
newcomers arrive in town. The driving forces in the
community will need to unite to embrace and navigate
the significant changes. (band leader command
ing) (bright traditional music) But for now, all eyes
are on the Highland Games as the community comes together
to celebrate their heritage. (bright traditional music) - We are celebrating
our 78th year in 2023. The Fergus Scottish
Festival Highland Games is an integral part
to this community. With Fergus being a
Scottish settlement, it was their way of
celebrating their cultures, their heritage, and it's one
of the oldest in North America. (bright traditional music) In the last 10 years, we hav
e seen our festival grow
from roughly 10,000 attendees to now almost 30,000. This festival is vital
to Fergus' economy generating approximately
$3 million, awfully impressive
for a three day event. (bright traditional music) - [Narrator] At the
end of the first day, the amateur athletes in
the heavy event school are wrapping up
their competition. (bright traditional music) - 1230. - I placed first. I know, I was so excited. Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's a good day. For whatever reason, I had
a co
uple of of attempts that just, everything
clicked, right? It's kinda like that golf swing, like everything just came
together and it was magical. (bright traditional music) Connor came in second this
year, so, and it was kinda fun 'cause you're on the
field at the same time. So for example, I threw
a 12 on the caver, which is the a perfect score,
you wanna try and get a 12, I'm like, "Finally,
I'm beating my son." - This time around, I definitely improved upon
my weight for distance and my weigh
t over bar. (bright traditional music) Well, I'll definitely
be back next year. (bright traditional music) - It's such a great time
but it also does feel good to be able to finish up a day
and just hang out with people. (bright traditional music) Relax, enjoy some ice cream,
great events, great music. What more could you want? - [Narrator] While the
amateur athletes can relax, it's time for the main
contenders to prepare for tomorrow's
world competition. (audience applauding) (bright traditional
music) - I was concerned that
possibly Jamie was not going to qualify because
it's a big caver, it's not one that he
is typically turned, and I guess his caver
has gotten better because he turned it today
very first athlete up, turned it on his
very first attempt. As the judge, I'm not allowed
to be really happy for him because it looks bad but as
his dad, I was pretty happy. - I am absolutely honored
to be on this field with these top 10 athletes
in the whole world and to be one of the
guys th
at turned it and to get to move on to that bigger caver
tomorrow with them is just gonna be
icing on the cake, so. (audience applauding) - [Announcer] 1215, it's
the best throw so far. 1215. ♪ Well, Mackenzie's
rebel band was beat ♪ ♪ Away from Gallows Hill, sir ♪ - The question of what the
future holds for Fergus is certainly a big one, as it is with most towns
in Southern Ontario. One of its great benefits
is how picturesque Fergus and the surrounding area is. (soft upbeat music) - The town of
Fergus is an
incredible place to live. So it's no wonder so many
people wanna move here and we are destined for
some significant growth. - Part of our job will
be sort of to balance all those interests
as we move forward in terms of whether
it be heritage, protection of agriculture
land, it's a real mixed bag of stuff that we're
gonna have to manage. - The town of Fergus
loves the Grand River and over the years, that continues to be
more and more recognized. It's a way for us to
maintain a heal
thy river, using it as a leading
indicator of our success as a community and to
make sure that this river and this ecosystem
is what it is today, 30, 40, 50, 100
years down the road. - A lot of groups
are working with us and we know that they're going
to be something positive. We have the council,
the township council, the mayor that's on board. We know it's not
going to just be swept under the rug anymore because lots of people know
about those projects now and there's no going back. - My hopes
would be that
we maintain that balance of the urban center but also
a very vibrant rural business. And for each to understand what each other does and how
the community lives and grows. We have to eat. (soft upbeat music) - One advantage
of a smaller area is that we all know each other. So the discussions and the planning really take
place on multiple levels. So I think it makes
a big difference that we know each
other personally and we're all personally
integrated into the community. So we're
all very invested in things working
as well as they can. - At times we're gonna have
to reach back to the province and say, "Hey, yeah,
we'll take on that growth "but you're gonna
have to help us out." We're looking at growth in a
kind of a very methodical way and do it in a way that
at the end of the day still leaves all those
values that we cherish in our community. (soft upbeat music) (soft upbeat music) (soft upbeat music) (soft upbeat music) (no audio) (no audio)
Comments