Thank you, dasgar. That was exactly the problem. In the meantime independently, I hit upon this advice:
https://groups.google.com/group/binary-wxperl/browse_thread/thread/f53be0143430f408?hl=en# (see the answer, second post), (which is identical to what you're saying) and it fixed the problem. (Namely, removing some wx- related packages which originated from the ActiveState repository, and installing packages with the same name originating from the wxPerl repository).

In reply to Re^2: Error with Padre at ActivePerl by HelenCr
in thread Error with Padre at ActivePerl by HelenCr

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