Two separate debates for all major party candidates in the federal election in the Peterborough riding will be taking place next Tuesday and Wednesday (April 8 and 9), with the first on business issues and the second on housing and homelessness.

Two debates hosted by the same organizations were held less than two months ago for all major party candidates in the Ontario election.

The business issues debate, hosted by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce is partnership with the Peterborough and The Kawarthas Home Builders Association and Central Lakes Association of Realtors, takes place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the chapel at Lakefield College School (4391 County Road 29, Lakefield). Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Questions can be submitted ahead of the debate by emailing the chamber’s vice president of goverment relations and communications Joel Wiebe at joel@pkchamber.ca. Written question submissions will also be available at the event.

In addition to the debate, the chamber and those same partners (along with the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area) are hosting a “Coffee with the Candidates” event from 9 to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 15 at Holiday Inn Peterborough Waterfront (150 George Street North, Peterborough). All are welcome to drop in.

“The election events are a great way to learn about your local federal candidates and hear what they have to say on some important business issues,” Weibe says in a media release. “The next Government of Canada is going to play a crucial role in guiding us through some turbulent economic times. We encourage you to join us and engage with your local candidates.”

The debate on housing and homelessness is hosted by One City Peterborough in partnership with United Way Peterborough and District, the Research for Social Change Lab at Trent University, and All Saints’ Anglican Church. It takes place from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday at All Saints’ Anglican Church (235 Rubidge Street, Peterborough).

Everyone is welcome to attend. For those who are unable to be there, the debate will be livestreamed on the church’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/@allsaintspeterborough6446/streams.

The major party candidates in the Peterborough riding are incumbent Michelle Ferreri of the Conservative Party of Canada, Emma Harrison of the Liberal Party of Canada, Heather Ray of the New Democratic Party, and Jazmine Raine of the Green Party of Canada.

Other confirmed candidates in the Peterborough riding are Jami-Leigh McMaster of the People’s Party of Canada and Matthew Grove of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada.

Election day is Monday, April 28.

This will be the first federal election held using the new riding boundaries, which were adjusted in 2022 to reflect population changes in the 2021 census.

Previously known as Peterborough-Kawartha, the new Peterborough riding is geographically smaller and shifts to the south to include Otonabee-South Monaghan Township and Hiawatha and Alderville First Nations, while two Peterborough County municipalities in the former riding — Municipality of Trent Lakes and North Kawartha Township — move into the new Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes riding (previously Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock).

This story has been updated with the name of the Green Party candidate.

A fire in a East City home has displaced a Peterborough family of 11, and a relative has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to support them.

According to Amber Rose, who is organizing the fundraiser, a fire broke out at her late mother’s home early Tuesday (April 1) when the family was using the fireplace to heat the home during a power outage after the weekend ice storm.

Firefighters contained the fire at the home, located on McFarlane Street near Armour Road, by tearing down the walls surrounding the chimney.

“While we’re still waiting on a full assessment, it’s believed that the chimney allowed heat to escape into the walls, sparking the fire,” Amber writes on the GoFundMe page. “We are incredibly grateful that no one was physically harmed, but the home is now unlivable, and everyone who lived there has been displaced.”

That includes Amber’s sister Sharon and her fiancé Ryan and eight of their children, along with Amber’s and Sharon’s aunt.

“With Shannon and Ryan caring for both their large family and our aunt every day, this crisis has completely upended their lives,” Amber writes. “They are currently staying in a motel, but that is only covered for the next three days; after that, they’ll need to find alternative arrangements and support.”

Amber notes that the home, which was built by her grandfather in the 1950s, has been in her family for generations.

“It’s where our family grew up, gathered, and created countless cherished memories,” she writes. “To suddenly lose access to such a meaningful place has been truly heartbreaking.”

“This home has been especially important to my aunt, who has lived there her entire life. It’s the only home she’s ever known. My sister Shannon is her full-time caregiver, and the sudden displacement has left them feeling stressed and uncertain about what comes next.”

The GoFundMe aims to raise $20,000 from the community to help cover the family’s costs for shelter, food, clothing, and transportation, as well as any unexpected expenses and other costs as they await the outcome of an insurance claim and repairs.

As of the date of this story, over $4,000 has been raised.

“Shannon has always been the one to put others before herself, especially as she cares for her children and our aunt with love and dedication. Now, they need our support more than ever.

To donate to the GoFundMe campaign, visit gofundme.com/f/please-help-my-family-after-sudden-house-fire

It’s no happy accident that Earth Month lines up with the early weeks of spring. If a junk drawer or office space is on your spring-cleaning to-do list this year and you come across unwanted writing instruments, Clean Up Peterborough wants to take them off your hands for the betterment of the planet.

Now coming up on their one-year anniversary, the volunteer group is hosting a writing instrument drive throughout the month of April to divert as much waste away from the landfill as possible. Products accepted for the collection include pens, mechanical pencils, highlighters, permanent markers, and the caps for such products.

“We all know that people have things that might be put aside in their drawers and not throw away,” says Clean Up Peterborough founder Steve Paul. “I actually have found that there are quite a few people that have pens that don’t work and, for whatever reason, they stick around.”

Throughout the month, Clean Up Peterborough is encouraging businesses, organizations, schools, and families to set up a box to collect the products at any time. At the end of the month, the organization will then count the collected items and donate them to the free TerraCycle recycling program, which is held at Staples office stores across the country.

TerraCycle will clean the products, separate them by material, and recycle them into raw formats that manufacturers can then use to make new products.

“This program has been around for quite a while, and not many people know about it,” says Steve, noting that he often hears from people that they just throw out their instruments when they are no longer usable. “I thought, ‘What better time to take this opportunity during spring cleaning to use this platform to talk about some good things that we can do?'”

Clean Up Peterborough previously hosted the drive during Circular Economy Month last October and collected over 500 writing instruments. The drive inspired some schools, offices, and businesses in Peterborough to keep their collections running year-round.

“I just hope that over time, it’ll get more momentum, and it will go from a Circular Economy Month or an Earth Month event into annual collections,” says Steve.

“We can start looking at outreach and education through the kids [in schools], because what better way for them to be stewards of our futures than to talk about it with their families and say, ‘We did this at our school, and this is really important.'”

Steve adds that one aim of Clean Up Peterborough is always to provide people with accessible solutions and opportunities that help them reduce waste going into landfills and are 100 per cent free to participate in.

“It doesn’t take much time, it doesn’t take any money,” he says. “In fact, in the spirit of circularity, you really just need a bin or a box something that could be created at the school or at the business or organization.”

“It doesn’t take up a lot of space and it’s a huge opportunity for people to reach out to all their professional and family connections and say, ‘What do you have at home?’ Let’s do some spring cleaning and see what we can do.”

Steve encourages people to get creative with the drive by decorating their boxes, and he also has TerraCycle posters that Clean Up Peterborough can give out to those who want to advertise their independent collections.

“Not every business would like to have a cardboard box sitting at the front of their retail space, but there are ways to beautify it,” he says, suggesting businesses could have fun with it and challenge each other in a contest.

“A little bit of friendly competition actually helps, especially for this because there are no dollars involved and people could be as creative as they want.”

While organizations are encouraged to start their drives on their own at any time, they can contact Steve at cleanuppeterborough@gmail.com to arrange a pick-up of the donated items at the end of the month.

“I think it has the potential to make a pretty big impact, maybe not just in Earth Month,” he says. “Hopefully we’ll be able to make it permanent by having organizations continue to collect going forward.”

During April and beyond, Clean Up Peterborough is collecting other items for reuse and repurposing them in various ways through partnerships with other community organizations and start-ups. Such products being collected include milk bags, egg cartons, fishing line, ink cartridges, batteries, aluminum pop tabs, and more.

“These become conversation starters to get the word out that you don’t just have to throw everything out,” says Steve. “There are a handful of us in the Peterborough community that are finding ways to become a voice for sustainability and circularity and help people find the places they can take the more obscure items.”

Throughout Earth Month, Clean Up Peterborough is also partnering with various groups to host clean-ups around the city, with dates set for April 12 (Armour Hill/Ashburnham Memorial Park), April 19 (downtown Peterborough), April 22 (Beavermead Park and Beach), and April 28 (Technology Drive parking lot).

To keep up to date on events and drives organized by Clean Up Peterborough, join the Clean Up Peterborough Facebook group.