Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the southern Kawarthas region for significant rainfall Thursday (April 11) through Friday morning.

The special weather statement is in effect for southern Peterborough County, southern Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County.

Rain has overspread the area and will continue through Thursday night, with total rainfall amounts of 20 to 45 mm expected.

A risk of thunderstorms will also develop Thursday afternoon into the evening and, for areas that receive thunderstorms, rainfall amounts may approach 50 mm locally by Friday morning. Rain is expected to taper to showers through Friday morning.

Northwesterly winds will intensify in behind the system late Friday afternoon into Friday night with gusts up to 80 km/h.

Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible.

After a four-year absence, YWCA Peterborough Haliburton is bringing back its popular spring “Walk A Mile” fundraising event with a more inclusive name but the same focus.

YWCA Peterborough Haliburton is asking community members to help support women and children recovering from gender-based violence and, ultimately, to “Walk A Mile In Their Shoes.”

Originally called “Walk A Mile In Her Shoes,” the popular community event ran for 11 years and raised almost $1 million for YWCA programs and services for women and children before the organization announced in 2020 that it was ending the event, in part due to the pandemic.

On Tuesday (April 9), YWCA Peterborough Haliburton announced the event would return to downtown Peterborough on Friday, May 24 with a slightly different name, and that registration was now open.

“Walk A Mile In Their Shoes is an opportunity for the community to not only come together to support an amazing cause, but also to come together as neighbours and citizens to enjoy time together in our downtown core,” Tina Thornton, director of philanthropy for YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, told kawarthaNOW.

“This has been a staple event in this community since 2009 — people know it, they love it, and they come to it just because it’s Walk A Mile.”

To take part, walkers typically don red shoes, team up with family, friends or colleagues, and join the YWCA at Confederation Square for a walk around downtown Peterborough. On May 24, check-in for participants starts at 11 a.m. and the walk begins at noon.

People can sign up as a solo walker or with a team, and the YWCA is encouraging groups and businesses to challenge others to a fundraising contest.

Thornton said the event also provides an important opportunity for men to get involved in advocating for women and children who have experienced violence.

“We know that in order to bring an end to gender-based violence, which is part of the vision of the future held by the entire YWCA movement, we will need men and boys to walk along with us and raise their voices,” she said.

Registration for the event is $40 for a limited time “early bird” rate. The fee includes lunch at the event, a custom water bottle, and a T-shirt in the preferred size for each participant.

Thornton said that, in addition to raising much-needed funds, the best possible outcome for this year’s event would be increased awareness of gender-based violence in the community and the programs and services YWCA provides to women and children.

“We are really seeing the Walk A Mile In Their Shoes event as an opportunity for advocacy about the issue of gender-based violence, opening people’s eyes to the fact that it’s happening right here in our community, and encouraging them to literally walk in someone else’s shoes for a short time,” Thornton explained.

“It’s also a chance for the YWCA to build awareness about our programs and services within a broader population than those who may already know about us. So for us, the best possible outcome would be that more people in our community are familiar with the YWCA, what we do, and the fact that we are much more than a women’s shelter. And of course, we hope to raise as much as possible, with the help of our amazing participants, in much-needed funding to support the women and children we serve every day.”

All ages, genders, and abilities are welcome to participate in the event, and the walking route will accommodate accessibility and mobility devices.

To register or sponsor a participant by making a donation, visit the website at walkamilepeterborough.com.

Proceeds from Walk A Mile In Their Shoes will support what the YWCA calls its “journey of care,” which encompasses each of the signature programs and services offered to the women, children, and gender-diverse people it serves.

“From our Crossroads Shelter to our START Program and everything in between, your support ensures that a woman who is fleeing gender-based violence not only has a safe place to recover, but also the wrap-around healing programming she needs as she stands on her own, walking her path to the life of her choosing, free from fear and violence,” reads a media release.

YWCA Peterborough Haliburton provides safety, resources, and support to help women safely escape violent situations, build upon their existing strength, and move forward in their lives free from fear and violence. As a member of YWCA Canada, the organization is part of a global movement dedicated to ending gender-based violence in all its forms.

Two years ago in May, our community experienced the wrath of a changing climate: 190 km/h winds, days without power, damaged buildings and vehicles, downed power lines, and trees uprooted from the ground. The derecho storm of May 21, 2022 signalled for all of us that climate change is happening right now in our community.

Faced with the certainty of devastating storms, droughts, and floods, we all have an opportunity to adapt.

Peterborough Public Health (PPH) recently completed a climate change and health vulnerability assessment, which outlines the potential impacts of climate change in the Peterborough region and identifies the populations who are most vulnerable.

As we are already seeing the impacts of climate change on the health of our community, PPH is focusing on adaptation: preparing and taking measures to reduce the harms associated with climate change, particularly the health-related impacts.

While everyone is at risk of being impacted by climate change, certain groups are more vulnerable than others. Factors such as age, living conditions, income, education, and social connection play a big role in a person’s ability to adapt to an extreme weather event or temperatures.

Overall, vulnerability is impacted by a person’s exposure to the hazard, sensitivity to the hazard, and their ability to adapt. The greatest vulnerability exists where multiple factors (such as life stage and circumstance) intersect.

In addition to physical health, climate change has a significant impact on our well-being and mental health. Eco-anxiety or climate anxiety is increasing, particularly among young people — 78 per cent of young Canadians aged 16 to 25 reported impacts on their mental health due to climate change.

I have experienced the impacts of climate change. Growing up north of Sudbury, exposure to wildfire smoke was a regular occurrence. Today, poor air quality exacerbates my asthma, which I developed in my adult years. During the wildfire smoke event experienced last summer, I was forced indoors for weeks.

During the May 2022 derecho, I was fortunate to have shelter and be safe, but many people did not. I cannot imagine being without a home or living in inadequate housing, being a young person experiencing extreme weather for the first time, or having a medical device that requires electricity to run and being without it for days.

Climate change is here and, for many, we must simply adapt to the circumstances.

In June 2021, over 600 deaths were reported in British Columbia due to heat-related illness caused by a heat wave. Most important to note, 98 per cent of those lives lost occurred indoors, and many of those people lived in homes without fans or air conditioners.

In 2024, PPH will be focusing on extreme temperatures, particularly extreme heat. We will be exploring policy levers that can be used to address extreme heat, such as maximum temperature by-laws. In the City of Peterborough, there are by-laws that address minimum temperatures in rented dwellings from September to May, but nothing that addresses maximum temperatures.

Beyond policy, we are working to incorporate the findings of the vulnerability assessment related to extreme temperatures into existing extreme heat and extreme cold emergency sub-plans, to improve these plans so that those most vulnerable are protected. This will include enhanced communication strategies and working with partner agencies to ensure key messages reach those who need the information the most.

Further, we will be advocating for increased accessibility of cooling spaces and centres. We are working to develop tools that community members and agencies can use, like a health and wellness checklist, during times of extreme heat.

We are increasing our engagement with Indigenous communities to learn and incorporate Indigenous perspectives into local plans and adaptation strategies.

But we cannot do any of this alone — community collaboration is critical when it comes to climate change adaptation. So engagement and consultation will be an important part of our work this year.

It is a big undertaking, but we are up for the challenge. We have a talented multi-disciplinary team of professionals at PPH committed to reducing the health impacts of climate change. And one thing we do know, if there is an unseen benefit of climate change, it is watching a community rally in times of disaster and need — that is the humanity I love.

For more information about the climate change and health vulnerability assessment, visit peterboroughpublichealth.ca/your-health/environmental-hazards/climate-change/ and select “PPH Reports on Climate Change and Health.”

Parks Canada has advised the Bobcaygeon Swing Bridge will be temporarily closed from early Thursday afternoon (April 11) until late Friday afternoon.

Although the bridge reopened last October after being closed for three years for a rehabilitation project, vertical end lifts need to be installed to ensure the bridge seals tightly to the abutments during normal swing operations.

Swing operations will begin when the Trent-Severn Waterway navigation season opens on May 17, the Friday of the Victoria Day long weekend.

To allow work to be done on the bridge, it will be temporarily closed to the public from 1 p.m. on Thursday until 5 p.m. on Friday. Parks Canada says bridge users can also expect traffic delays of 15 to 20 minutes on Thursday morning before the bridge temporarily closes.

Additional temporary closures of the bridge may be required before the beginning of the navigation season.

“The intermittent closures will be timed to ensure the least impact on the community, and detailed information regarding the timing and duration of these short closures will be provided in advance,” Parks Canada states. “For any planned closures requiring a longer duration (half-day/full-day closures), notifications will be issued with 24-hour notice.”

Peterborough County has launched an “innovative tool” in its quest to recruit more physicians to the community and help meet residents’ current and future health care needs.

On Wednesday (April 10), the county announced the introduction of its new healthcare needs assessment form.

“This innovative tool is designed to gather crucial insights directly from the residents of Peterborough County, forming the cornerstone of our strategic plan for the future of healthcare in our region,” the county said in a media release. “Every resident is encouraged to participate and have their voice heard.”

The healthcare needs assessment form serves multiple purposes, according to the county. A primary goal is to collate information about those in need of a family physician in one document that is specifically for Peterborough County, said Lori Richey, the county’s healthcare advancement coordinator.

“We are excited that there will be one central spot to gather the names and location of Peterborough County residents who are currently without a primary care provider, or wish to secure one closer to their home,” Richey told kawarthaNOW.

“Currently, names are on various lists and an accurate snapshot of the current need does not exist. Current physicians will no longer need to keep their own list, freeing up valuable time for their front office staff.”

When a physician is looking to add patients to his or her practice, this list can be sorted by township and those located near the practice will be contacted.

“This data is also critical for planning for the future and will serve as a recruitment tool to bring new physicians to the area,” Richey added. “Physicians do not get paid until they have rostered patients, and this tool will ensure that this happens in a timely, efficient manner.”

Richey said having an accurate picture of the needs will not only help with doctor recruitment but will also assist with developing the infrastructure to support the growing townships in Peterborough County.

When asked how the tool works with existing lists on which residents may already be registered, such as the provincial government’s Health Care Connect, Richey said Peterborough County residents only need to be on the new county list.

“We are working directly with the townships and the Peterborough County physicians to ensure they are aware of the list and process for people to be registered and taken off the list when the opportunity arises,” she explained.

In addition to identifying and ultimately matching residents with a physician, the county has other aspirations for the tool.

“We are asking residents to let us know what other health and human services — such as pharmacy, social workers, physiotherapy, and blood lab — they would like to see closer to home as they currently need to travel long distances to receive,” Richey said.

“Our townships are growing, and many people are taking up permanent residence at their summer residences and we will need to plan for new infrastructure to support this growth. This input is the starting point for gathering this type of information.”

The county hopes the tool will overall facilitate the development of comprehensive health care solutions closer to home.

Peterborough County council and all eight township councils, along with the townships’ CAOs, are working together to ensure that health care for residents is a priority, Richey said.

“Through our work with the province, local physicians (and) healthcare providers, and the community health centres, we are committed to healthcare advancement in Peterborough County. This requires a strong ecosystem, strategic planning, well thought-out plans that include all divisions from planning to economic development, investment, and a lot of hard work.”

Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark concurred.

“To begin the essential work of recruiting and planning for the future of primary healthcare delivery in our communities, the healthcare needs assessment form will provide a convenient and consolidated overview of where resources are needed across our county,” stated Clark in the media release.

“Our goal is for health care to be more accessible for everyone — rural or urban, young or elderly. I encourage every resident in Peterborough County to complete the healthcare needs assessment form.”

Residents can find the form online at www.ptbocounty.ca/yourhealthmatters. Those without access to the internet can call 705-930-4765.

At its meeting on Monday night (April 8), Peterborough city council voted to approve an amendment to the city’s parks and facilities by-law with the intention of allowing Foods Not Bombs to continue serving free meals to those in need at Confederation Square without requiring a permit.

The volunteer group, which has been serving free meals for almost 19 years, began receiving trespass notices and compliance orders from the city in March because they were not in compliance with two sections of the by-law that require permits, including offering food or drink and erecting or being within a structure, hut, or tent.

The previous city council passed the parks and facilities by-law in August 2019 to help prevent homeless tent encampments in city parks.

The amendment to the by-law would allow a manager with delegated authority to grant an exemption to any part of the by-law for activities within Confederation Square. The intention would be to provide Foods Not Bombs with an exemption to allow them to continue to serve food in the park.

However, the amended by-law would also allow the city to apply administrative penalties of up to $275 per day for contravening the by-law and up to $750 per day for undertaking activities that require a permit. If an administrative penalty is applied to a by-law violation, this would replace a fine of between $200 and $10,000 per day upon conviction for an offence.

There was no discussion during the council meeting on why the administrative penalty change to the by-law was being included.

Ben Rempel, representing Foods Not Bombs (FNB), made a delegation to council at Monday night’s meeting to present the following statement on behalf of the collective.

“As you are likely aware, Food Not Bombs has continued to serve a nutritious community meal every Monday year-round since 2005,” Rempel said, reading the statement from his phone. “Our sharing of food is an act of protest against unjust civic priorities and, as we have been assured by the city, protests in Peterborough do not require permits.”

“Recently, the City of Peterborough has informed us we are in contravention of the 2019 parks and facilities by-law, a by-law regarding which — council may remember directly promising us — was to be explicitly complaint-driven, meaning that unless somebody makes a complaint, there will be no policy to enforce the by-law.”

“During the ongoing dialogue between FNB and the City of Peterborough, it has been established that neither party is aware of any complaints against the protest operations of Food Not Bombs in Confederation Square. The city’s use of the contracted security patrols by Garda, with city orders to take direct action against Food Not Bombs, would show the current city government has recently chosen to take a different stance on the enforcement of parks and facilities by-law.”

“The City of Peterborough has framed their concerns as an issue of insurance and liability,” Rempel continued. “However, the Ontario Donation of Food Act prevents anyone from holding FNB, or the Corporation of the City of Peterborough, liable for spoiled food.”

“Food Not Bombs has graciously been granted access to a commercial kitchen, where we prepare our community feast. We abide by commercial food safety rules, including erecting a tent to cover food served outdoors, and we maintain a strong and transparent relationship with the Peterborough health unit. We invite anyone from city administration to visit our kitchen and inspect our tent if they have any concerns. In all our years of protest operation, we have never caused a known detriment to public health or safety — and we all eat the food we cook, too.”

“With all these protections in place, we ask where is the real danger? In a city where residents are overwhelmingly at higher risk of losing their job, becoming food insecure, losing their housing, and becoming isolated from their supports than they are of being injured by our tent, the danger is in groups like FNB not existing. The danger comes when the Corporation of the City of Peterborough is cutting and attacking food programs despite the increased risk this (poses) to the public, because risk does not equal liability.”

“If this (proposed by-law amendment) intends to switch infractions from being provincial offences to administrative penalties, it is an outright attack on democracy,” Rempel said. “When a ticket is received it can be challenged in a court at no cost, but an administrative penalty cannot be challenged without a judicial review, which costs time and money which those most likely affected could never hope to raise.”

“This does nothing to protect Food Not Bombs, and we will not be used as a smokescreen for a motion which limits citizens’ ability to stand up for their rights and challenge unfair laws. It is within the power and jurisdiction of city hall to amend the parks and facilities by-law in a way which returns public space to the public and which protects the constitutional rights of the citizens of Peterborough. We all want our shared spaces to be safe, inviting, and communal.”

“The best way to achieve this is by facilitating active use of public space, not by necessitating permits. We believe the will exists within city administration to enact this, and we look forward to watching our city’s representation and staff working on the public’s behalf to make this happen.”

Responding to the statement, councillor Joy Lachica asked Rempel to confirm that Foods Not Bombs would prefer to have the parts of the proposed by-law amendment that refer to administrative fines removed., which Rempel confirmed.

Given the late hour in which the proposed amendment came before council, councillor Bierk put forward a motion to defer the item until the next cycle of meetings, which lost, with only Bierk and Mayor Leal voting in favour of the deferral.

Councillor Lachica spoke against proceeding with the proposed amendment, suggesting that problematic sections of the entire by-law be reviewed and that further consultation be held with Food Not Bombs to understand their concerns with the amendment.

“We’re actually disabling an organization from the ability to appeal at ticket if there was something put forward,” she said. “We’re not giving them that flexibility when we are charging them a fee. It doesn’t sit right with me the way it is, so I’m not going to be able to support this motion.”

Councillors Matt Crowley, Kevin Duguay, and Dave Haacke spoke in support of the proposed by-law amendment.

“If we need to tweak the by-law, let’s work with Commissioner Potts and Legislative Services and councillor Lachica and I and tweak it, but in the meantime, pass this stupid thing so that we can get going with the real business of the city and help out Food Not Bombs in the meantime, because they’re doing good work and they need to continue to do it,” he said. “But this is just wasting time, is all this is doing — us discussing this right now — because this helps them and it needs to happen.”

The proposed by-law amendment was approved by a vote of 9 to 2, with only councillors Lachica and Bierk voting against it.

While “Let’s Make the World a Better Place” is the slogan for a new volunteer-run environmental group in Peterborough, the story of the group’s founding is proof that caring for the planet has benefits extending beyond the environment.

Aptly named, Clean Up Peterborough comprises a group of city and county residents who are passionate about environmental stewardship and want to keep the trails, parks, and streets litter-free all year round.

“I launched it with the goal to connect with other businesses and people that really care,” says Steve Paul, the founder and organizer of Clean Up Peterborough.

It’s just a lucky coincidence that the group’s first community clean-up is happening during Earth Month. On Monday (April 15) at 11 a.m., volunteers — including local businesses and organizations like Siemens, the Peterborough Humane Society, and Manitoulin Transport — will meet at the TransCanada Trail Parking Lot at 1100 Technology Drive for the public clean-up.

The ambitious goal is to clean the entire stretch of Technology Drive between Keene Road and Ashburnham Drive, the parking lot, the Lang-Hastings Trail section between Technology Drive and Lansdowne Street, and along the trail south of Technology. Those looking to get involved can email cleanuppeterborough@gmail.com to register by Friday, April 12.

“The more people we have to get involved, the quicker it will go, and we’ll be able to give back even more,” Steve says. “We want to use it as a launch point to get the word out and hopefully get some momentum and organize some other clean-ups.”

A resident of Peterborough since he was young, Steve has been a long-time active community member when it comes to environmental initiatives in the region. He has previously volunteered with Ontario Turtle Conservation, Kawartha Wildlife Centre, and Kawartha Land Trust, and is currently a board member for the Peterborough Field Naturalists.

Though Clean Up Peterborough is a new group, the roots of it began with Steve’s diagnoses of anxiety, depression, atypical anorexia, and adult combined ADHD. While learning to navigate these diagnoses, he discovered the healing powers of the outdoors and has used nature to “reground” himself.

“I’m learning how to restructure my life to better support my needs, and a lot of what I’ve been focusing on is being out in nature more and finding out ways that I can make a difference,” Steve says.

On his journey to reconnect with nature, daily walks along the Lang-Hastings Trail near his home have become a welcome relief for Steve. Since the end of last May, he has only taken five mornings off from walking at least a piece of the trail every morning.

“I’ve always felt at peace being outside and being out with my camera and my binoculars — I’m a birdwatcher, so it’s nice to get out and see what birds are in the area,” he says, noting that the daily walks allow him to meet others doing the same. “I found that I was able to connect with people out biking or jogging who maybe are not taking time to really see what’s around them.”

Steve found that sharing the story of having come within 100 feet of a female moose along the trail last July was engaging for his listeners and the participants he would lead during walks for the Peterborough Field Naturalists.

Since the story was of interest to many who showed surprise at such wildlife being so close to the city, he took it as an opportunity to express the need to take care of the land — and not just for our sake.

“The area that I walk every day is part of one of the eight provincially significant wetlands that we are blessed with in and around the city of Peterborough and I take pride in that,” says Steve. “People engage in my mental health journey, but I figured there’s a bigger purpose here and I decided to take that into the realm of having a clean environment and appreciating nature.”

While on the regular walks and becoming more and more grateful for his time spent outdoors, Steve observed something other than wildlife.

“I ended up coming to Technology Drive every day and thought there was lots of garbage around,” he says. “Every once in a while, someone from the city would come clean up, but then it would get dirty again. I wanted to do something.”

As a Lang-Hastings Trail steward, Steve now monitors the local section between Keene Road and Technology Drive. One day in December, he alone collected five bags of garbage out from alongside of the trail.

That, combined with how he felt to be immersed in nature while talking to people he met on his walks, encouraged him to go further in his stewardship of the land. Already familiar with Clean Up Barrie, he decided to bring a similar initiative to Peterborough.

“I’m trying to share a message about the benefits of getting out in nature on mental health and combine it with the whole garbage initiative as well,” he says. “It’s about respecting what we have and giving back.”

Beyond the first community clean-up, Clean Up Peterborough is already well into planning the second, the “Ashburnham Little Lake Clean-Up” to take place on Earth Day. Meeting at 10 a.m. at the Rogers Cove parking lot or the Beavermead Park parking lot on Monday, April 22nd, volunteers will be split into smaller groups the groups to tidy the area from Rogers Cove to the soccer fields at Beavermead Park.

Though the organization hasn’t even had their first clean-up yet, Steve is already looking several steps ahead. One major goal is to create “clean up kits” which would include bags, gloves, hand sanitizers, and other items for community members to pick up at library, schools, and municipal offices across the region to encourage them to host their own clean-ups.

“Giving them the some additional supplies will support them on their journey to do a clean-up in an area that’s important to them,” Steve says. “Hopefully we can even track the data and create a visual element to inspire even more people to get out and work on new areas.”

Clean Up Peterborough is already thinking about applying for grants, shoreline clean-ups, and connecting with the City to create systems for ensuring safety during clean-ups.

“I’m hoping that, together, Clean Up Peterborough and municipalities in the city and county can work together to spread education and help influence people to try to get involved to make a difference,” says Steve.

To contact about donating supplies for the clean-up kits or to register for either clean-up, email cleanuppeterborough@gmail.com. For more information on the Earth Day event as details become available, join the Clean Up Peterborough Facebook group.