Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre is inviting the public to gather on Friday, June 20 to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day the following day.

The non-profit organization, located at 580 Cameron Street in Peterborough, is hosting special activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to commemorate the occasion.

First celebrated in 1996 as National Aboriginal Day (the day was renamed in 2017) following a proclamation by then Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc, National Indigenous Peoples Day recognizes and celebrates the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (Canada).

The June 21 date was chosen for several reasons, including its cultural significance as the summer solstice and because it is a day on which many Indigenous peoples and communities traditionally celebrate their heritage.

“It is an opportunity for our community to come together and be joyful,” Em Feltham Day, gender diverse Indigenous mentor at Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre, told kawarthaNOW.

“We hope to gather to share stories and laughter. Connection is at the core of everything we do at the Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre, and we hope for the day to be full of community connection,” Feltham Day said.

National Indigenous Peoples Day is an important day to acknowledge, and participants can expect a celebration.

“It is a day filled with connection, laughter, and joy,” Feltham Day said. “We celebrate our gifts, our resiliency, and our strength as Indigenous people to Turtle Island.”

The event at Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre features a sacred fire, strawberry teachings, drumming, and craft activities for all ages. There will also be local Indigenous vendors and information tables with regional Indigenous organizations.

There is no cost to participate in Friday’s celebration.

As parking at Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre is limited, visitors are asked to reserve the parking lot at 580 Cameron Street for Elders and those with mobility needs.

Parking is available at Grace United Church at 581 Howden Street, which is a five-minute walk to the centre.

Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre was incorporated in 2008 and became a member of the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) in 2009. One of the OFIFC’s newest members. Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre has been core funded since January 2010.

The OFIFC represents the collective interests of 31 friendship centres in cities and towns across the province. Friendship centres are places for community members and Indigenous people living in urban spaces to gather, connect with one another and receive culturally based services.

“Friendship centres improve the lives of urban Indigenous people by supporting self-determined activities which encourage equal access to, and participation in, Canadian society while respecting Indigenous cultural distinctiveness,” according to Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre.

Three people charged in connection with the July 2022 murder of Shawn Singh in Peterborough have been found guilty.

The trial of 37-year-old Eduardo ‘Tito’ Silva of Barrie, 30-year-old Jack Monine of Peterborough, and 38-year-old Rebecca Silva of Toronto took place over the past three and a half weeks in Lindsay and wrapped up on Tuesday (June 17).

Eduardo ‘Tito’ Silva was convicted of second-degree murder, Monine was convicted of manslaughter and accessory after the fact, and Rebecca Silva was convicted of accessory after the fact.

“This positive result comes after almost three years after the killing of Shawn Singh and is a testament to the hard work of investigators to identify and bring those committing violence in our community before the courts,” stated Peterborough police chief Stuart Betts in a media release.

“This shooting was a brazen attack in a public space. It had far reaching impacts on the victim’s family and public safety. I am proud of the dedication and hours of work from those in our Investigative Services Unit from detectives to victim services as this case took them from Peterborough to Toronto and Sault Ste. Marie.”

On July 2, 2022, Peterborough police were called to the Park Street North and Sherbrooke Street area in Peterborough following reports that a person had been shot.

After arriving, officers located a 37-year-old male victim and administered CPR. The victim was transported to Peterborough Regional Health Centre where he succumbed to his injuries. Police later identified the victim as Shawn Singh of Peterborough.

In September 2022, police announced two suspects had been arrested and charged in connection with Singh’s death. After the execution of search warrants earlier in the month, Rebecca Silva was arrested and charged with manslaughter with a firearm and accessory after the fact to murder and Monine was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, accessory after the fact to murder, and failure to comply with probation.

At the time, police also issued a Canada-wide warrant for Eduardo ‘Tito’ Silva.

Almost a year later, in a joint operation between the Peterborough and Sault Ste. Marie police services, Silva was taken into custody on August 22, 2023 after a two-hour stand-off with police in Sault Ste. Marie.

Following his arrest, Silva was charged with second-degree murder as well as more than 30 weapons offences. At the time of his arrest, he was prohibited from possessing various firearms and ammunition, had two life-time weapons’ prohibitions, and a criminal record including robbery and other weapon convictions. In November 2024, he was convicted of six weapons offences and sentenced to two years less a day in provincial jail.

Sentencing for his second-degree murder conviction in Singh’s death is expected in the fall.

“These investigations and trials show the partnership of the police service and the Crown to bring forward the best information for a jury,” Betts said. “I am grateful to our prosecutors for their efforts in this case. Much of what the police do relies on a vigorous prosecution and together we are helping to ensure that healing can begin for Mr. Singh’s family. Outcomes such as this give the community a sense of justice being done.”

After a decade at the Peterborough Public Library and in the middle of leading a controversial staffing reorganization, Jennifer Jones is no longer CEO of the library or an employee of the City of Peterborough.

In addition to being the library’s CEO, Jones was appointed the city’s director of cultural services only five months ago, after acting as the city’s director of arts and culture for almost a year.

Her sudden and unexpected departure from the city was announced in an email sent on Tuesday afternoon (June 17) from the city’s community services commissioner Sheldon Laidman to members of the arts and culture advisory committee — a citizen committee that Jones led in her director role — prior to the committee’s meeting that evening.

“I don’t expect there to be any disruption to the work of this committee as part of this staff change,” Laidman wrote.

According to Laidman’s email, Jones’ last day with the city was on Monday (June 16) — the same day the city issued a sudden and unexpected announcement that a planned staff reorganization at the library has been “paused” so that the city can “consider other options for meeting budgetary constraints.”

Laidman does not indicate in his email whether Jones resigned from the position or was let go, only noting “The City of Peterborough thanks Jones for her service to the city and wishes her well in her future endeavours.”

As library CEO, Jones was responsible for implementing a decision made by city council during deliberations on the 2025 budget last fall to eliminate two positions and reclassify some positions as lower-paid positions at the library to save $120,000 of the city’s $411 million operating budget. The library has a budget of $4.4 million.

After the city’s budget was approved earlier this year, the library subsequently decided to lay off three of the library’s four full-time unionized librarians, including a children’s librarian, the adult and teen programming librarian, and the librarian who manages the library’s information systems. Two positions (an outreach coordinator and a programming assistant) would be created, resulting in a net reduction of one position.

When the public became aware of the planned changes to staffing at the library (especially the elimination of the dedicated children’s librarian) earlier this year, there was strong community opposition, particularly by a number of concerned parents who launched an online petition that has garnered 2,480 signatures to date and founded the Our Future Peterborough grassroots advocacy group.

Our Future Peterborough recently issued an open letter signed by more than 100 celebrated writers, artists, educators, and performers — Margaret Atwood, Neil Young, and former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson among them — that was covered by both local and national media.

“The city has heard and appreciates the support for library services expressed by residents and others who have advocated for the Peterborough Public Library,” stated the city’s media release announcing the staffing reorganization pause. “While the approved budget needs to be followed, the city is exploring all options to ensure the most effective means to reduce the budget while maintaining the same level and quality of service, through constructive meetings with Peterborough Public Library staff.”

As library CEO, Jones was the public face of the staffing reorganization decision, speaking to the media to explain the rationale behind the decision and the impact — including to CBC’s Ontario Morning as recently as last Thursday (June 12).

Host Nav Nanwa asked Jones whether there was any possibility of saving the dedicated children’s librarian position.

“It’s possible. We can certainly save things, but there still has to be some changes. I have not gotten the money back,” Jones said, referring to the $120,000 eliminated from the library’s budget.

“I’m also a librarian. I am so thrilled and touched and I love that people in the community and the superstar names that you mentioned are standing up for their libraries. I think that’s phenomenal and I want that to continue, but we have to make some changes internally to make things function.”

“At the end of the day, I still have to balance my budget — which sucks to talk about people that way — but I’m $120,000 short at the end of the day, so I’ve got to find a way internally to do this … this has not been fun … this has been absolutely awful to go through this situation.”

Jones had been at the Peterborough Public Library for 10 years, first joining the library in 2015 as head librarian after serving as a librarian in New Brunswick. She began acting as library CEO in 2016 before being appointed to the position the following year. In February of this year, she was appointed as director of cultural services in addition to the library CEO role.

Jones oversaw the library during an 18-month $12-million renovation and expansion of the main library branch on Aylmer Street, during which the library was temporarily relocated to Peterborough Square until the branch reopened in 2018. During her tenure, the DelaFosse Library branch on Park Street South was closed in 2022 and a new branch was opened in 2025 in the Miskin Law Community Complex on Lansdowne Street just east of Park Street.

According to Laidman’s June 17th email, the city’s innovation and quality assurance manager Joe Crooks will serve as acting director of cultural services while the city recruits a new library CEO, with the selection of the role to be done in consultation with the Peterborough Public Library board.

Peterborough Public Health has confirmed a second case of locally acquired measles.

On Tuesday (June 17), the health unit announced that measles has been identified in a contact of the first measles case that was reported last Tuesday.

Like that first case, the second case of measles was also in a person who was vaccinated against the virus.

The health unit is sharing known locations in Peterborough that were attended by the second person infected with measles.

Current known exposure locations are Dairy Queen at 828 Chemong Road on Sunday, June 15 from 4 to 6:10 p.m. and The Back40 Smoke House at 289 George Street North #287 on Sunday, June 15 from 6 to 9:30 p.m.

“Additional time (information) has been included in the information above to reflect the potential for airborne transmission of the measles virus,” reads the media release.

People who believe they may be at risk of having been exposed to measles should monitor for symptoms until 21 days after potential exposure and check vaccination records to confirm that family members have received two doses of the measles vaccine (MMR or MMRV). People born before 1970 may only have received one dose and are not considered susceptible to infection.

If you believe you may have been exposed to measles at the dates and locations above, have not been vaccinated or are unsure, notify Peterborough Public Health by calling 705-743-1000. You should also call the health unit if you were exposed and are immunocompromised, unvaccinated, or pregnant to be assessed for eligibility and need for post-exposure care.

Measles is a highly contagious virus spread through coughing and sneezing that can live for up to two hours in the air.

Symptoms of measles begin one to three weeks after infection and may a high fever, cough, runny nose, drowsiness, irritability, red and watery eyes, small white spots with white centres on the inside of the mouth and throat, and a red blotchy rash three to seven days after other symptoms start.

If you develop symptoms of measles, call Peterborough Public Health at 705-743-1000 and notify them that you may have measles. I you have been exposed or are experiencing symptoms, always phone any clinic, emergency department, or health care setting first before going there.

Although most people who contract measles recover without treatment, it can be severe for those who are immunocompromised, including infants, pregnant people, and those with existing medical conditions. Possible complications can include ear infections, pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.