New signage was unveiled at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) during a private event on March 26, 2024 to recognize a $1 million donation from local philanthropists Denise and Martin Pick (left and second from left). Also pictured are PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway, PRHC president and CEO Dr. Lynn Mikula, Denise and Martin's son Charles Pick and daughter-in-law Dr. Rardi Van Heest, and PRHC general surgeon Dr. Joslin Cheverie. (Photo courtesy of PRHC Foundation)
Local philanthropists Martin and Denise Pick have made another donation to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation — this time a $1 million donation the regional hospital has invested in minimally invasive surgical tools and state-of-the-art diagnostic technology.
The hospital’s women’s and children’s unit was named after the couple in honour of the donation during a private family event on Tuesday (March 26).
“Martin and Denise believe in the power of philanthropy to make their hospital and hometown great,” said PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway in a media release. “They have a long history of making transformational gifts and their generosity has been shaping the future of health care in this region for years. We’re beyond grateful for their continued support.”
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The couple have long-standing relationships with PRHC both as volunteers, with Martin a former PRHC Foundation board member, and donors. In 2019, PRHC unveiled the Martin and Denise Pick Learning Centre, a 4,300-square-foot centre to support multidisciplinary health care training and education initiatives at the hospital. Most of the $3.1 million cost of the centre was donated by the Picks.
Both that donation and the $1 million donation announced on Tuesday were made through the Remembering Otto and Marie Pick Charitable Foundation, a family charitable fund named for Martin’s father and mother. Martin’s father died from his third heart attack in 1959 at the age of 54.
“Denise and I feel that the quality of health care available in a community is tied to its overall quality of life — to its ability to grow and prosper,” Martin said. “We want to help make sure the doctors and nurses at PRHC have the tools they need to deliver the best care. To do that, we need to support them and give them the equipment that will allow them to innovate.”
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“The more we can do to support PRHC, the more we can help improve health care for patients from Peterborough and our surrounding communities,” Denise added. “We hope our donation encourages others to join us.”
The Picks’ $1 million donation has allowed PRHC to upgrade one of four general operating suites with state-of-the-art minimally invasive surgical tools, Heighway said. As technology and equipment is not covered by government funding, hospitals rely on the generosity of community donors to acquire it — something that also helps PRHC attract top health care professionals to work at the hospital.
According to PRHC general surgeon Dr. Joslin Cheverie, the investment “has given my colleagues and I access to brand new, leading-edge equipment to perform cancer surgeries” and has enabled the hospital to introduce fluorescence-guided imaging to general surgery.
“This new, specialized system is letting us operate with increased precision,” she said. “It’s an advancement that has tremendous potential for the treatment of bowel and other cancers.”
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The $1 million donation has also helped fund two new leading-edge CT (computed tomography) scanners that support safer and more accurate diagnosis by generating higher quality and more comprehensive images.
The donation is also helping PRHC treat more urgent and chronic conditions like cancer, stroke, and traumatic injury without invasive surgery through the expansion and upgrading of the hospital’s interventional radiology suites.
“It’s so encouraging to have the support of people like Martin and Denise Pick, who care as much about our health care future as we do and are willing to invest in us and the technology we need to make our vision a reality,” said PRHC president and CEO Dr. Lynn Mikula.
Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal, Janice Johnston on behalf of Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri, Innovation Cluster executive director Camila Duarte, and BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada's Brett Jermyn at an announcement on March 26, 2024 of a strategic collaboration between the Innovation Cluster and BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada, which employs around 400 nuclear industry workers at its Peterborough location. (Photo courtesy of the Innovation Cluster)
The Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas has announced a strategic collaboration with BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada (NEC), with goals that include communicating the benefits of nuclear energy by “addressing and transforming public perception” and boosting local employment in the nuclear industry.
A subsidiary of BWXT Canada Ltd., BWXT NEC supplies fuel and fuel channel components, services, equipment and parts for the 30 operating CANDU nuclear reactors around the world, including those at the Bruce, Darlington, and Pickering nuclear generating stations in Ontario. The company employs around 500 highly skilled workers in its three locations in Peterborough, Toronto, and Arnprior, with around 400 employees at the Peterborough location on Monaghan Road.
“Our collaboration with the Innovation Cluster highlights BWXT’s commitment to innovation, local job creation, and deepening our relationships within Peterborough,” says Brett Jermyn, BWXT NEC director of fuel handling and engineered solutions, in a media release. “We’re excited to be working with the organization and tapping into their expertise and network to further enable our nuclear innovations and support our community.”
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According to the media release, the collaboration “aims to highlight the importance of clean technology for the future, expand the local clean tech network, and spark further innovation for the nuclear industry.”
As part of the collaboration, BWXT NEC will have an office in the Innovation Cluster’s incubator in the Venture North building in downtown Peterborough, where it will offer workshops, training, and strategic planning. BWXT NEC is the first “zone partner” in the Innovation Cluster’s new corporate sponsorship initiative.
“Collaborating with BWXT NEC is a transformative step for our region, underscoring the synergy between clean tech innovation and sustainable development,” says the Innovation Cluster’s executive director Camila Duarte. “This collaboration aligns with our mission to cultivate a thriving innovation ecosystem and shows how strategic relationships can accelerate progress in essential sectors like health tech, clean tech, and nuclear energy.”
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The Innovation Cluster will be hosting a discussion panel about clean technology and nuclear energy from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 25th called “New Age of Energy Panel: Innovations in Nuclear for a Sustainable Future.”
Along with Jermyn, the panellists include Chris Deschenes, director of small modular reactor (SMR) business development at Ontario Power Generation (which operates the Pickering and Darlington nuclear generating stations), Bryan Watson, senior vice president of business development at financing firm Venbridge and managing director of CleanTech North, and Jason Wight, president and founder of Lightspeed Innovation. The panel will be moderated by Sayyed Ali Hosseini, associate professor and director of the Machining Research Lab at Ontario Tech University.
Everyone is welcome to register for the free event, which takes place at the Innovation Cluster’s office at 270 George St. N., at newageofenergy.eventbrite.ca.
Kristie Virgoe, Kawartha Conservation's director of stewardship and conservation lands, at Ken Reid Conservation Area. A certified forest therapy guide, Virgoe regularly leads forest therapy sessions at the 110-acre nature reserve north of Lindsay. (Photo via Conservation Ontario)
Kawartha Conservation is urging the public to report any illegal activities at Ken Reid Conservation Area near Lindsay, including the use of dirt bikes and ATVs on trails.
“Ken Reid Conservation Area is a cherished natural reserve that prohibits the use of motorized vehicles on its trails to preserve the area’s tranquility and environmental integrity,” reads a media release.
“Despite clear guidelines and signage throughout the conservation area, there have been multiple instances of dirt bikes and other motorized vehicles damaging the landscape and disturbing the peace of this natural habitat.”
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Kawartha Conservation says it is also aware of other violations at the 110-acre property — specifically, the starting of campfires. Along with being against conservation area rules, campfires will be illegal when Kawartha Lakes Fire Rescue Service imposes its annual municipal-wide burn ban, effective April 1, in response to the elevated fire risk associated with dry grass and debris during April.
“It is important to note that the prohibition of fires and use of motorized vehicles extends to all conservation areas managed by Kawartha Conservation, including Windy Ridge, Pigeon River, Fleetwood Creek, and Durham East Cross Forest Conservation Areas,” the media release adds. “These measures are in place to protect our natural environments and ensure they can be enjoyed by all visitors in a safe and sustainable manner.”
Kawartha Conservation is asking community members to report any sightings of suspicious or illegal activity, including the use of dirt bikes, ATVs, or any instances of fire within the conservation area, by using the online reporting tool at www.kawarthaconservation.com/report.
Mexican-Canadian aerial and performance artist Diana Lopez Soto empties a cantaro (clay pot) in mid-air during a performance of her solo work "Nomada", which she will bring to the stage at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough for one night only on April 5, 2024, presented by Public Energy Performing Arts. (Photo: Greg Wong)
For the penultimate show of its 30th anniversary season, Public Energy Performing Arts is bringing internationally renowned aerial and performance artist Diana Lopez Soto to the Market Hall stage for one night only on Friday, April 5th for her exciting solo performance Nomada.
A Mexican-Canadian artist, Lopez Soto has drawn upon the stories and dances of her Mexican Indigenous ancestry to create a thrilling and powerful work that blends aerial dance, installation art, projection design, and contemporary Mexican Indigenous dance.
Nine years in the making, Nomada is inspired by connections to the land, rituals of water, cycles of sustainability, and stories that Lopez Soto collected in the highlands of Michoacán state in Mexico.
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“Every element of creation and development has involved in-depth research and field work,” Lopez Soto explains. “This production is a restorative process and a gateway to connection — an experience that honours the stories of my family, our Otomi and Purépecha ancestry, (and) our contemporary community, history, and relationships to the land and culture of Michoacán.”
Lopez Soto has fully incorporated the elements of her research and field work into Nomada.
“Thanks to the support of knowledge keepers, my mother, and elders of the community of Michoacan, I was able to participate in water rituals and ceremonies, visited family members, butterfly sanctuaries, and bodies of water,” she says. “The sound and video material from rivers, storms, streets, conversations, and celebrations that we gathered during these years of research are crucial elements in the final sound composition and inspiration of movement.”
Nomada is supported by the CanDance Network commissioning program with five presenters across Canada taking part, including Peterborough’s Public Energy Performing Arts, Toronto’s Canadian Stage and Danceworks, Nanaim’s Crimson Coast Dance Society, and Vancouver’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. The performance premiered at PuSh from February 1 to 3, and will have its premiere in Toronto from April 18 to 20.
One of the most unusual aspects of Mexican-Canadian aerial and performance artist Diana Lopez Soto’s “Nomada” is her use of numerous large clay pots called cantaros, which are filled with water, beans, corn, and soil and suspended around the stage, connected to each other and to Lopez Soto through a complex counterbalance system of ropes and pulleys. The vessels rise and fall in a choreographed vertical dance as Lopez Soto rises and falls with them, swinging dramatically from one side of the stage to the other. (Photo: Chris Randle)
One of the most unusual aspects of Nomada is Lopez Soto’s use of numerous large clay pots called cantaros, which are used today in Mexico as percussion instruments (with water inside the cantaro being used to create different pitches).
In Nomada, the cantaros are filled with water, beans, corn, and soil and suspended around the stage, connected to each other and to Lopez Soto through a complex counterbalance system of ropes and pulleys. The vessels rise and fall in a choreographed vertical dance as Lopez Soto rises and falls with them, swinging dramatically from one side of the stage to the other.
Like so much of Nomada, the design of the cantaros used in the show has been a collaborative effort, first with Mexican ceramic artist Gustavo Bernal and then with Canadian ceramicist Cynthia Cupples, who lives near Lopez Soto’s organic farm in Uxbridge. The cantaros needed to be strong enough not only to be suspended by ropes, but also to withstand Lopez Soto’s full weight when she stands on them in one part of the performance.
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According to a story by Charlie Smith published on the arts and culture website Pancouver in advance of Nomada’s premiere at PuSH, Lopez Soto originally called her performance Agua y Barro (“water and mud”) because she wanted to focus on clay, which Indigenous communities in Mexico relied on to make utensils for cooking and pots for carrying water. According to Lopez Soto, clay vessels were also used in ancestral times to transport loved ones who had passed away.
However, after Lopez Soto learned about her family’s stories of displacement, she changed the title of the performance to Nomada (“nomadic”), reflecting both her family’s experiences and her own personal story and artistic practice.
Lopez Soto immigrated to Canada on her own when she was only 17, and occasionally travels to Mexico and South America to be with her family and to collaborate with other artists.
VIDEO: “Nomada” promo
Lopez Soto’s Indigenous heritage plays a large role in Nomada, particularly when it comes to her Otomi heritage. While her father, who has Purépecha heritage, exposed her to the music, food, and cultural celebrations of the Purépechan people, her mother’s Otomi heritage was denied by the family.
For example, Lopez Soto’s uncle Aurelio told her the family had no Otomi heritage even though his mother, his grandparents, and his great-grandparents all spoke the language and lived in the Otomi community.
“Growing up in the community as an Otomi was not easy,” Lopez Soto tells Pancouver. “Many mothers would not teach their language to their kids or teach them about the culture. This was their way to protect their children and find survival.”
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Nomada is a way for Lopez Soto and her family to reclaim their Otomi heritage and culture.
“We’re going back and actually owning that as an honour,” she says.
Lopez Soto will perform Nomada for one night only at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5th at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre. Sold on a sliding pay-what-you-can scale from $10 to $50, tickets are available in person at the Market Hall box office (140 Charlotte St, Peterborough), by phone at 705-775-1503, or online at markethall.org.
A 32-year-old man is dead after a single-vehicle collision late Monday night (March 25) on County Road 36 between Lindsay and Dunsford.
At around 10:23 p.m., Kawartha Lakes Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and fire and emergency medical services responded to a report of the collision on County Road 36 just north of the intersection with Settlers Road.
The driver of the vehicle, a 32-year-old Dunsford man, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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County Road 36 was closed in the area for several hours while police documented the scene.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or has video/dash camera footage and has not spoken with police is asked to contact Kawartha Lakes OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
After less than two weeks of ticket sales, upwards of $11,500 dollars has already been raised for a 50/50 draw in support of the Peterborough Humane Society. More than $5,000 has also been raised through Owen's 'Ruff'le, where a winner will receive two patio chairs valued at over $1,700 in honour of Lakefield's late Instagram star Owen The Griff. Ticket sales end at noon April 17, 2024 with the draw occurring at 1 p.m. (Photo: Marlon Hazlewood)
Next month, one lucky winner will become thousands of dollars richer for supporting animal welfare in the Kawarthas region.
After less than two weeks of ticket sales, the Peterborough Humane Society has already collected more than $11,500 for its inaugural 50/50 draw.
“We saw this as a great opportunity to engage the community with something that’s fun,” says Kevin MacKenzie, fund development director at the Peterborough Humane Society. “Somebody’s going to walk away with a pretty big chunk of change, and at the same time, raise much-needed funding for the animals that are in need.”
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Tickets are available until noon on Wednesday, April 17th at www.phs5050.ca. The draw will occur at 1 p.m., where the winner will be awarded with half of the collected funds. Ticket are priced at $2 for one, $5 for three, $10 for 10, or $25 for 25.
At the same time, the Peterborough Humane Society is also hosting Owen’s ‘Ruff’le, named in honour of Lakefield’s late Owen The Griff, a Brussels Griffon made famous on social media whose 17th birthday would have been on March 13, the same day ticket sales opened.
The draw presents the opportunity to win two Lollygagger lounge chairs valued at over $1,700 donated by Loll Designs and Stony Lake Furniture Co., where Owen was the shop dog before he passed away last June. Tickets for Owen’s ‘Ruff’le are priced at $20 for one, $50 for three, and $100 for 10.
Owen The Griff, the late shop dog of Stony Lake Furniture Co. in Lakefield, was famous on Instagram, where he used his influence in part to support the Peterborough Humane Society. Now he is being honoured with Owen’s ‘Ruff’le, a raffle where one lucky winner will walk away with two new Lollygagger lounge chairs donated by Loll Designs and Stony Lake Furniture Co. (Photo: Stony Lake Furniture Co.)
“Someone will be very lucky to get two beautiful chairs to put out on their patio, on their deck at the cottage, or wherever else they want to enjoy them this summer,” says MacKenzie.
According to his parents Lisa Besseling and Marlon Hazlewood, Owen The Griff sounded like a chicken when he barked, looked like a tiny alpaca, enjoyed fruit snacks, and crossed flooring transitions with extreme caution. Though not adopted from the shelter himself, he was always a supporter and advocate for the work done at the Peterborough Humane Society.
“Owen The Griff and his family were a very big part of getting the Peterborough Animal Care Centre built, because he had such a strong following on Instagram and still does,” says MacKenzie. “They are big supporters and believers in what we do at the Peterborough Humane Society, so we’ve been so fortunate to have them here.”
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MacKenzie notes that the more than $11,500 in the pot for the 50/50 draw does not include the more than $5,000 raised through Owen’s ‘Ruff’le so far. All the funds raised from both will support the work of the Peterborough Humane Society, from the spay-and-neuter clinic to cleaning and caring for the animals — including caring for their mental health.
“Sometimes we don’t know what’s happened to an animal when they come to our facility,” says MacKenzie. “If they haven’t been in the best environment, the animal care workers help them learn to trust people and trust other animals again. Our staff work so carefully with these animals to make sure that, mentally and physically, they are healthy enough for a second-chance life.”
“The animals are being walked, socialized, taken care of, vaccinated, micro-chipped, spayed and neutered,” he adds. “All of these services and all that care and love we give these animals is what you are paying for when you buy your lottery tickets.”
Iceberg and Broccoli are just two of the thousands of dogs and cats that benefit from the Peterborough Humane Society’s animal care centre. Funds raised from the Peterborough Humane Society’s 50/50 lottery and Owen’s ‘Ruff’le will support the work of the Peterborough Humane Society and the ever-increasing demand for its services. (Photos courtesy of the Peterborough Humane Society)
MacKenzie adds that the need for support is a “12-month, 365-day-a-year need” because, even though the new animal care centre is much larger than the previous location, the shelter is still full of animals looking for their forever homes — and it’s about to get even more full as spring marks kitten season.
“We’re about to get a lot of cats and kittens that will end up in our facility in the next couple of months, but we do have animals that are abandoned and surrendered to us each and every week,” he says. “The Kawarthas region is expanding. There are more and more homes being built, more and more people moving to the Kawarthas region, and with that demographic growing, so does the need in animal welfare.”
The funds raised from the 50/50 lottery and Owen’s ‘Ruff’le will also support the work being done outside of the animal care centre itself. One such service, which becomes more essential each day, is the partnership with local food banks which ensures local pet owners have the resources they need to keep their companion with them.
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“Between the economy, high inflation, and employment challenges, there are a lot of factors that land people in tough choices to make, so it is a priority to keep people and pets together,” MacKenzie says.
“We will try to support the community as best we can and when, unfortunately, all of those other resources have been exhausted and someone has surrendered the pet, we are here to take really good care of that animal and find them they’re next home and, hopefully, it’s a forever home.”
For those who are unable to purchase a ticket for the 50/50 lottery or Owen’s ‘Ruff’le, MacKenzie encourages that a share on social media, telling friends and co-workers, or printing off the flyers, could go a long way in supporting the Peterborough Humane Society while making one lucky winner just a little bit richer.
As the Peterborough Humane Society prepares for an increase in cat and kitten surrenders during the spring, the 50/50 lottery will support all the services of the Peterborough Animal Care Centre, including adoption, the spay-and-neuter clinic, micro-chipping, and more. (Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Humane Society)
“We have more than 20 days left and, if we’re already at $11,000, imagine how big that could be by the time we do the draw on April 17,” says MacKenzie. “And the more people that know about it, that number is going to keep growing and growing and this could end up becoming life-changing money for someone.”
The winner will be drawn at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17th, with ticket purchases for both the lottery and raffle closing at noon.
Visit www.phs5050.ca for more information and to purchase tickets.
An 1874 engraving published in The Illustrated London News shows Irish emigrants preparing to leave the Queenstown port in County Cork, Ireland. Trent Valley Archives Theatre's inaugural production "Tide of Hope" follows the fortunes and misfortunes of David Nagle, an Irish land agent and rent collector forced to flee to Upper Canada in 1825 when Irish rebels fighting against English tyranny brand him a traitor. The play will be performed for the public on May 15 and 16, 2024 at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre. (Public domain image)
A second public performance of Tide of Hope, the inaugural production of Trent Valley Archives Theatre, will be staged at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough in May.
The second performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15th, the evening before the originally scheduled performance.
“We’re very pleased with the audience interest in our project and community support,” say co-producers Mary and Greg Conchelos in a media release, noting that the May 16th performance is now 85 per cent sold out. “There is a real appetite for regional history and historical fiction in this area.”
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Both public performances are fundraisers for Trent Valley Archives, a non-profit organization that has promoted the preservation, identification, and care of historical archives in the Trent Valley region since 1989. Unlike many archival organizations that receive government funding, Trent Valley Archives relies on membership, donations, and user fees to make its unique and extensive collection of local historical resources available to the public five days a week, year-round.
Launched earlier this year with a mission to bring regional history to life on stage while also raising funds for Trent Valley Archives, Trent Valley Archives Theatre’s first production is the history play Tide of Hope, written by Peterborough playwright Ed Schroeter and directed by Gerry McBride.
A prequel to the immigration story of Peter Robinson, the 19th-century politician in Upper Canada who administered the passage and settlement of over 2,500 poor Catholic families from Ireland to what is now eastern Ontario, Tide of Hope follows the fortunes and misfortunes of David Nagle, an Irish land agent and rent collector forced to flee to Upper Canada in 1825 when Irish rebels fighting against English tyranny brand him a traitor.
Actor Paden Gilhooley (left), co-prooducer Mary Conchelos (centre), and playwright Ed Schroeter (right, in the background at a script development workshop for Trent Valley Archives Theatre’s “Tide of Hope”. Public performances of the play will be staged May 15 and 16, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre, with a performance for school groups at 1 p.m. on May 15. (Photo: Suzanne Schroeter)
“There are four strong, fierce female characters in the play — including Lady Mount Cashell, an Irish rebel sympathizer who wrote female-emancipatory fiction and health advice — who overshadow David,” says Schroeter, an award-winning playwright, Trent Valley Archives volunteer, and retired teacher.
Also known as Margaret King and Margaret King Moore, Lady Mount Cashell was a favoured pupil of British writer, philosopher, and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft. Later in life when she settled in Italy, Lady Mount Cashell would adopt the name Mrs Mason, from the motherley governess in Wollstonecraft’s only children’s book, and offered maternal aid and advice to Wollstonecraft’s daughter Mary Shelley, the author of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
Geared to the general public and Grade 6 to 12 students, Tide of Hope both commemorates the bicentennial of the Peter Robinson immigration while also opening a dialogue about immigration, refugees, migrants, and European settler history.
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Tickets for the public performances are $40 for assigned cabaret table seating or $30 for regular assigned seating, and are available online at tickets.markethall.org/tide24. Suitable for audiences aged 12 and older, the play runs for around 95 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.
Prior to the two public performances, there will be a performance for school groups at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15th, with admission costing $250 for a class of 25 students or more (including free admission for the teacher and up to four volunteer chaperones). Teachers can book classes by emailing trentvalleyarchivestheatre@gmail.com.
According to Mary and Greg Conchelos, there is still enough room at the school performance for at least another eight or nine classes. More information, including educational resources, is available at trentvalleyarchives.com/tvat/.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor for Tide of Hope.
A Kawartha Lakes police vehicle blocks access to Pigeon Lake Road east of Lindsay after a police shooting on November 26, 2020 that resulting in a 33-year-old suspect and an OPP officer being seriously injured. The suspect's one-year-old son was found fatally shot in the man's pickup truck. (Photo: CBC)
Charges of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death have been dropped against three Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers who were involved in a tragic shooting in Kawartha Lakes in November 2020 that killed 18-month-old Jameson Shapiro at the scene and, later, the life of his father.
The Barrie-based OPP Association, which represents 6,200 uniformed and around 3,600 civilian members of the OPP, announced on Monday (March 25) that all charges had been dropped against constables Nathan Vanderheyden, Kenneth Pengelly, and Grayson Cappus during a court appearance.
“It is a correct and just decision made today that the charges against our members have been withdrawn,” stated OPP Association president John Cerasuolo in a media release. “We have stated from the outset that our members acted courageously and professionally during an extremely dangerous situation. We were confident that as the case proceeded through justice system that the evidence would vindicate the officers.”
On November 26, 2020, the OPP responded to a report of a domestic dispute near Bobcaygeon involving a firearm, and that a 33-year-old man had abducted his infant son. When they attempted to stop the man’s pick-up truck on Pigeon Lake Road east of Lindsay, it collided with another vehicle and seriously injured an OPP officer.
Police confronted the driver and three officers fired shots at the pick-up truck, injuring the man. The body of the infant was later found in the pick-up truck, along with a handgun. The boy’s father succumbed to his injuries almost one week later.
After an initial investigation and months of public speculation, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) confirmed in February 2021 the infant had died as a result of being shot by police. At that time, SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon wrote in an email that the three officers involved in the shooting had “not as yet availed themselves of an opportunity to be interviewed.”
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In August 2021, the SIU announced the investigation was “in a hold pattern” awaiting the results of specialized forensic testing of some of the ballistic evidence by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the U.S. In November 2021, the SIU announced it was reviewing the FBI’s forensic report and was continuing “to actively investigate this tragic case.” Over the following nine months, the SIU provided no further public updates on the investigation.
In August 2023, almost two years after the shooting, the SIU announced there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the three OPP officers “committed criminal offences” and each of the officers was charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death.
A preliminary hearing examining the evidence in the case began in the Ontario Court of Justice in Oshawa in December 2023 and continued in January, with a publication ban on evidence presented at the hearing. The OPP Association provided no details of what happened at Monday’s hearing.
“It is important for the public to understand that if police are charged with an offence, they have the presumption of innocence, and in this case it has been determined that on the totality of the evidence there was no reasonable prospect of conviction,” Cerasuolo said. “Our officers were doing their job according to their training.”
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Cerasuolo acknowledged the impact of the 2020 shooting incident on the lives of the family and on the police officers and civilian members of the OPP.
“The circumstances of this incident involving the death of an innocent child are tragic for all involved,” he says. “We offer our sympathies to the child’s family. It is our duty to serve and protect and we take that duty very seriously. Unfortunately, as police officers protect public safety in highly volatile and fast-moving dangerous situations, unexpected outcomes may result.”
Cerasuolo is encouraging anyone affected by the situation “to reach out and lean on those closest to them as well as seek professional mental health assistance,” noting that the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge offers mental health supports to residents of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, the city and county of Peterborough, and Northumberland. Confidential support services are available to all OPP members, families, retirees, and auxiliaries through the OPP’s Healthy Workplace Team.
Leslie Jones as Iris in the premiere 2002 production of Morris Panych's "Girl in the Goldfish Bowl" at the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver. The award-winning play tells the story of a 10-year-old girl living in a fishery town in 1962 who, convinced the troubles in her world were caused by the death of her pet goldfish, finds a mysterious stranger washed up the ocean's shore who she believes will set her world right. (Photo: Andree Lanthier)
The Peterborough Theatre Guild is wrapping up its 2023-24 season in May with a production of Morris Panych’s award-winning satirical comedy Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.
The two-act play tells the story of a precocious 10-year-old girl named Iris who, proclaiming “she’s in the last few days of her childhood,” lives with her depressed parents Sylvia and Owen in British Columbia’s ocean-side fishery town of Steveston in 1962. Adding to the dysfunctional family is sharp-tongued and sharp-eyed boarder named Miss Rose, Iris’s godmother, who works at the fish cannery by day and drinks at the local legion at night.
Iris believes the world has been held together by her pet goldfish Amahl. That belief is strengthened by what happens when Amahl dies: Sylvia threatens to leave the family and the Cuban missile crisis takes place, with the former Soviet Union placing nuclear missiles in Cuba and creating the imminent threat of nuclear war with the U.S.
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Shortly after Amahl dies, Iris finds a strange man named Mr. Lawrence washed up on the beach, who she thinks bears an uncanny resemblance to her dead goldfish. After she brings the mysterious Mr. Lawrence home, she becomes convinced he is the reincarnated Amahl who will fix everything that has gone wrong in Iris’s world.
First produced at the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver in 2002, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl won a Jessie Richardson Award for achievement in professional theatre in Vancouver in 2022, a Dora Mavor Moore Award in Toronto 2003, and the Governor General’s Award for Drama in 2004.
Born in Calgary and now based in Vancouver, 71-year-old Morris Panych is an actor and one of Canada’s most celebrated directors and playwrights. As an actor, you may recognize him from his roles as F. Emasculata and the Grey-Haired Man in six episodes of the iconic science-fiction series The X-Files.
“Girl in the Goldfish Bowl” playwright Morris Panych. (Photo: Joy von Tiedemann)
As a director and playwright, Panych has directed over 90 productions across Canada and has written 30 plays that have been produced throughout Canada, Britain, the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in a dozen languages.
Panych first rose to prominence as a playwright with 1989’s 7 Stories, a dark comedy about a man standing on a seventh-story ledge of an apartment building, whose suicidal despair is ignored by various self-absorbed people popping their heads out of the windows around him.
His plays have earned him 14 Jessie Richardson Awards and five Dora Mavor Moore Awards. In addition to his Governor General’s Award for Drama for Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, he won the same award in 1994 for his play The Ends of the Earth. Panych’s latest play, Withrow Park, premiered at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto in November 2023.
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In September 2022, Panych was in Toronto to direct the Tarragon Theatre production of Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, where he spoke with NOW Magazine’s Jon Kaplan about why he chose a child to be the main character in his play.
“I wanted to write about a child, and I can’t escape the fact that everything that happens to a child seems deeply dramatic, if not downright tragic,” Panych told Kaplan. “Iris believes deeply that something is in control of the universe, and that it’s somehow tied to a force created by her goldfish’s centrifugal movements in its bowl.”
“It’s also inspired by the girls that Hayley Mills played in Disney films like The Parent Trap, with those dream scenarios where she works to get her parents back again,” he added. “I was in love with her when I was a child, in films like The Moon-Spinners or The Trouble With Angels.”
According to Panych, Iris’s belief in the power of her goldfish is not only a metaphor for the existence of God but “my own utter, complete disillusionment with the Catholic Church.”
“In fact, the play deals with disappointment in any security, truth, absoluteness and safety,” he said. “It turns out to be your deep belief in such things that then catches you out.”
The Peterborough Theatre Guild will present its production of “Girl in the Goldfish Bowl” for 10 performances from May 3 to 18, 2024. (Original artwork: Colton DeKnock)
Directed by 4th Line Theatre’s Kim Blackwell with assistance from Indigo Chesser and Mikayla Stoodley, the Peterborough Theatre Guild production of Girl in the Goldfish Bowl stars Lindsay Wilson as Iris, Nancy Towns as Sylvia, Peter Dolinski as Owen, Lisa Devan as Miss Rose, and Stew Granger as Mr. Lawrence. Production managers are Beth McMaster, Pat Hooper, Bob Campbell, and Kate Suhr.
The play runs at the Guild Hall at 364 Rogers Street in Peterborough’s East City from May 3 to 18, with evening performances at 7:30 p.m. on May 3 and 4, 9 to 11, and 16 to 18 and 2 p.m. Sunday matinee performances on May 5 and 12.
Tickets are $30 for adults, $27 for seniors, and $20 for students and are available by calling 705-745-4211 or online at www.peterboroughtheatreguild.com.
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