Selwyn Township will be improving the accessibility of the Lakefield waterfront this summer for people with disabilities, thanks in part to a grant from the Ontario government.

The $60,000 grant from the provincial government’s Inclusive Community Grants Program was announced as part of the township’s budget earlier this year, with a formal announcement last Thursday (March 14) attended by Ontario’s minister of seniors and accessibility Raymond Cho, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough County warden Bonnie Clark, Selwyn Township mayor Sherry Senis, and township representatives.

The “Creating an Inclusive Waterfront in Lakefield” project includes the purchase and installation of an assistive canoe and kayak launch at Isabel Morris Park and a fully accessible canoe and kayak launch at the Lakefield Beach.

“There remain considerable barriers to participation in recreation and cultural activities for people with disabilities,” Mayor Senis said in a media release. “This is also true for seniors, people with limited mobility, and/or health-related issues. To achieve inclusivity for all, parks and recreation services must be accessible to residents and visitors of all ages and abilities. This is a goal that the township strives towards.”

According to the township’s 2024 budget, the total cost of the project is estimated at $72,904 and is scheduled to be completed by July 31.

“Those with disabilities and limited mobility are often faced with obstacles or unwelcoming environments when they try to use outdoor spaces,” MPP Smith said. “This funding will allow individuals to have access to waterfront that will enable them to enjoy activities with their friends and families for years to come.”

The province’s Inclusive Community Grants Program provides local governments and not-for-profit organizations with funding for projects that enable older adults and people with disabilities to participate in all aspects of community life.

Since 2020, the program has supported 87 projects in Ontario communities, including $740,859 for 15 projects in 2023-24.

“Our government proudly supports Selwyn Township in removing barriers to recreation through the Inclusive Community Grant,” Minister Cho said. “The addition of an accessible and assistive canoe and kayak launch at Isabel Morris Park will go a long way in ensuring more people can enjoy the beautiful Lakefield waterfront.”

A new medical centre, featuring a husband-and-wife physician duo and a nurse practitioner, is now open in the village of Norwood.

The clinic, located at 17 Spruce St., is expected to be a welcome addition for the many residents of Asphodel-Norwood who don’t have a family physician or have to travel out of the area to receive care.

Meanwhile, those who do have access to primary care within the community previously raised concerns with the township about the village’s physician, Dr. Brendan Keogh, nearing the end of his practice. Residents identified the stability of family medicine in the community as their top priority in the township’s 2022-2024 strategic plan.

“The Township of Asphodel-Norwood took these concerns seriously and prioritized the creation of a roadmap that would lead to attracting new healthcare providers to our community,” the township noted in a media release.

Asphodel-Norwood is leasing about 4,000 square feet in the new Trillium Medical Campus building for medical centre space to support the team of physicians and the nurse practitioner recently recruited for the community, and to allow the opportunity for specialty services to be provided, such as foot care for seniors, a diabetes clinic and more.

The township’s roadmap towards providing local health care services included the leasing of the space and the onboarding of a nurse practitioner in partnership with the Peterborough Family Health Team.

“Those key steps in conjunction with many hours of relationship building and outreach have resulted in the final step of the roadmap being achieved,” the township stated.

Dr. Alex Cormier and Dr. Angie Ford, the clinic’s two doctors, are in the process of transitioning into the new space. A third physician, Dr. Ryan Hutcheson, is expected to join the team in July. The three doctors are supported by nurse practitioner Mary Walsh.

Ford grew up in Ancaster and spent a lot of time playing soccer competitively. She completed both her undergraduate and medical degree at Queen’s University in Kingston. She then went on to complete her residency at the Peterborough-Kawartha Queen’s Family Medicine training site, with some extra training in emergency medicine and intensive care. Ford said she is looking forward to sharing the medical practice with Cormier, who is her husband.

Cormier grew up in Ottawa and did his undergraduate studies at McGill University in Montreal, followed by medical school at Queen’s University. He completed his medical training through the Queen’s Peterborough-Kawartha Family Medicine Residency program, with additional training in emergency medicine.

Hutcheson grew up in Cobourg and spent the better part of a decade in the music business before going back to school. He completed his undergraduate studies and teacher’s college at Trent University, attended medical school at McMaster University in Hamilton, and completed his residency through Queen’s University.

Walsh completed a Bachelor of Nursing Science and primary care nurse practitioner program at Queen’s University and a Master of Arts in counselling psychology at The University of British Columbia.

To support the new health care team, the township invites residents to consider sponsoring medical equipment and furnishings for the space. Donations are also welcome. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, visit www.antownship.ca/healthcare.

The township encourages residents of Asphodel-Norwood who are not patients of Keogh and who don’t have a family doctor, along with those who currently travel outside of the Peterborough area to receive care, to call the municipal office to add their names to a wait list.

Around 50 protesters gathered outside of the Scotiabank branch at Hunter and Water streets in downtown Peterborough on Friday afternoon (March 15) to demand the bank’s asset management arm fully divest its holdings in Elbit Systems Ltd., an Israeli defence contractor.

According to a media release from Nogojiwanong 2 Palestine, which organized Friday’s protest, Elbit Systems provides 85 per cent of the drones and 85 per cent of the land-based equipment used by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza.

In fall 2022, Scotiabank was reported to have become a major foreign shareholder in Elbit Systems, holding around 5.1 per cent of the weapons producer, valued at around $500 million at the time.

The bank’s holdings in Elbit came under scrutiny even before the Israel-Gaza war, because the weapons company had been accused of manufacturing cluster munitions, which can kill or maim civilians during a conflict or long after it has ended.

At a shareholders meeting in April 2023, a representative of the ethical investing activist group Eko delivered a petition on behalf of 12,000 signatories calling on Scotiabank to divest its Elbit holdings.

The protest in downtown Peterborough was one of dozens at Scotiabank branches across the country on Friday, and follows a similar protest held at Scotiabank’s downtown location in December.

According to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, earlier this month Scotiabank’s 1832 Asset Management trimmed its holdings in Elbit from 5.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent in the fourth quarter. Scotiabank did not comment on the reason for the reduction in holdings.

“We are not here today occupying space at Scotiabank branches all across the country to ask for a small reduction in Scotia’s genocide profiteering,” said protester organizer Vladimir Cuéllar in the media release. “We are here to stand with the innocent Palestinians in Gaza and demand that Scotiabank put and end to it completely.”

While other Canadian banks own shares in Elbit Systems valued at around $3 million, Scotiabank remains by far the largest non-Israeli shareholder. That made it the target of Friday’s protest, organizers say.

Carrying signs and banners that read “Divest from Elbit” and “End Genocide Profiteering,” Friday’s protesters picketed, sang, chanted, recited poetry, and closed their Scotiabank accounts, organizers say.

The protesters provided leaflets to Scotiabank patrons and passersby notifying them of the connection and encouraging them “to remove their money from banks funding genocide and to reinvest it in more ethical alternatives, such as local credit unions.”

“Clearly, Elbit and Scotiabank are directly profiting from the current genocide in Gaza, as Elbit shares are up 17 per cent over the past year,” said protester organizer Pauline Hwang.

The Gaza conflict has now killed more than 30,000 Palestinians — the majority women and children — and injured more than 70,000 others. Israel’s military claims that around 10,000 of those killed were members of Hamas, which invaded Israel on October 7 and killed 1,139 people and took 250 people hostage.

More than 1.5 million Palestinians who have been displaced from other parts of Gaza during the conflict are now residing in the southern city of Rafah, which Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed will be the target of an offensive despite international pressure .

A Place Called Home (APCH) in Lindsay is starting to get the wheels in motion for its cycling tour fundraiser this summer.

The organization, which provides support for people experiencing homelessness in Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton, has announced registration is now open for the 21st annual Kawartha Lakes Classic Cycling Tour.

This year’s event will be held on Saturday, August 24th at the Salvation Army Lindsay Community Church, located at 51 Eglington St. in Lindsay. Featuring 50, 100, and 160 kilometre road routes and 20 and 40 kilometre trail routes, the Kawartha Lakes Classic Cycling Tour attracts cyclists of all skill levels from throughout Ontario.

The annual tour is APCH’s largest fundraiser of the year, said Jennifer Lopinski, fund development co-ordinator for the agency.

“APCH needs to raise a minimum of $150,000 to keep our operations running smoothly to ensure that immediate support for those experiencing homelessness is there when they need it,” Lopinski told kawarthaNOW.

“With the rising cost of inflation, coupled with increased operating costs due to our much larger shelter, our need for increased donations could not be higher. Demand for our shelter and outreach services continues to increase as more vulnerable people struggle to stay housed.”

VIDEO: Kawartha Lakes Cycling Tour

Volunteers from the Kawartha Cycling Club donate countless hours to help plan the Kawartha Lakes Classic Cycling Tour every year, with all proceeds going to APCH to support those experiencing homelessness in the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County.

Boston Pizza is the title sponsor for this year’s event and will be providing a lunch for all event participants.

With registration now being open, APCH encourages cyclists to take advantage of the staggered early-bird rates. From now until April 30, it costs $70 to register as an individual or team member. That rate will increase to $80 on May 1, $100 on July 1, and $120 on event day. The flat rate for youth registration is $15, and families with one to two adults may bring up to four youth for a flat rate of $100.

Those interested in joining a team to fundraise for APCH can qualify to receive a free Biemme event jersey. To be eligible for a free jersey for each team member, teams must fundraise a minimum of 200 times the number of team members. For example, a team of four would need to raise $800 for each team member to receive a free Biemme event jersey. Individuals who raise or donate $200 or more qualify for a free Biemme event jersey too, APCH noted.

“The very best thing that could happen, outside of perfect cycling weather on August 24, would be to see more individuals, families, youth, and teams come out for a day of fun and take advantage of our free Biemme event jersey offer by fundraising or donating a minimum of $200 so they we can continue to support the increased numbers of people experiencing homelessness in our community,” Lopinski said.

To learn more about the Kawartha Lakes Classic Cycling Tour and to register, visit the event website at kawarthaclassic.com. Those interested in becoming a sponsor for the event can contact Lopinski by calling 705-878-6817 or emailing jennifer@apch.ca.

Since 1995, APCH has supported homeless men, women, and families with children in the City of Kawartha Lakes and County of Haliburton. The registered charitable organization helps people who find themselves homeless to get back on their feet so they are able to move forward and settle into a stable residence.

According to APCH, it also continues to help its previous clients through ongoing communication and by providing support to prevent situations that could put them at risk of becoming homeless again. APCH also helps those at risk of becoming homeless to keep their homes.

For more information about APCH, visit www.apch.ca.

What a difference a year has made for the Peterborough Petes. After last year’s inspiring run at the Memorial Cup, the Petes are now officially out of playoff contention.

Despite playing in front of a sell-out crowd at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Saturday night (March 16), the luck of the Irish wasn’t with the Petes as they fell in a 7-4 loss to the second-ranked North Bay Battalion.

With 65 games played and three games left in their regular season, the Petes remain where they have been for most of the season: second-last in the Eastern Conference standings with 20 wins and 37 losses, just ahead of the Niagara IceDogs with 16 wins and 40 losses after 63 games played.

During Saturday’s game, Tommy Purdeller led the way for the Petes with two goals and an assist. Ryder McIntyre and Caden Taylor each picked up two assists, while Chase Lefebvre and Braydon McCallum each had a goal. Cam Gauvreau also had an assist in the game.

Liam Sztuska stopped 40 of 46 Battalion shots in the loss.

The Petes’ final home game of the regular season takes place on Thursday (March 21) when they face off against the Ottawa 67’s.

While March sunshine and warmer temperatures could have you eager to crack open a cold drink on the patio and pull out the swimsuits, water management representatives warn that it’s not all a cause for celebration in the Trent River watershed.

“We could be in for a very different summer,” warns North Kawartha Township Mayor Carolyn Amyotte.

The difference comes from the fallout of a premature spring thaw, subnormal precipitation, and unseasonable temperatures throughout the winter. Surveys by Parks Canada — which is responsible for water management along the Trent-Severn Waterway — show that in the Haliburton area alone, total precipitation has been below average every month since September 2023 and was just 35 per cent of normal in February 2024.

“Normally when we get to this time of year, there’s a great deal of water stored all through the Trent River basin and it’s stored as snowpack,” says Ted Spence, executive committee chair of the Coalition for Equitable Water Flow (CEWF) and a retired professor with an academic focus in environmental planning and hydrology.

“The snowpack was already less than 60 per cent in the northern areas, ranging down to essentially zero as you get further down in the basin. Now it’s closer to zero everywhere.”

CEWF is a volunteer organization established in 2008 to represent those who own residential shoreline property on 35 reservoir and 20 flow-through lakes located in Haliburton County and northern Peterborough County, in the Haliburton sector of the Trent River watershed. CEWF acts as the liaison between the membership lake associations and the Parks Canada Trent-Severn water management team, which maintains the water levels for all lakes through dam operations.

VIDEO: Coalition for Equitable Water Flow

With below-typical precipitation causing a lack of stored water, Parks Canada is managing the dams throughout the system and logs have now been added to all reservoir lake dams to gradually build water levels.

“If we start to get normal precipitation, they would be aiming to get (reservoir lakes) up to 75 or 80 per cent by the end of April,” says Spence, who resides in Peterborough but cottages on Catchacoma Lake, which is a part of the Mississauga Lake chain, the largest reservoir in the waterway. “In a normal year, they would be looking to get the whole system up to about 90 per cent in early May.”

Spence suggests this water monitoring activity is happening about a month ahead of when it typically would and, combined with the early winter run-off, water levels on the lakes are coming up “a few centimetres per day.”

“The lakes are all higher than they would normally be on this date, but there’s nothing sitting upstream to come down to finish filling them,” Spence points out. “The water level on your lakes is going up earlier than you would expect.”

Monitoring of water levels doesn’t stop at the northern reservoir lakes, but goes all the way down through the system.

“We have to fill the whole system and, right now, the downstream parts like the Trent River and Otonabee River through Peterborough have been reduced to minimum flows in order to allow the canal lakes and the Kawartha Lakes to be filled above, and for the reservoirs to fill,” Spence says. “To have that happening in March is exceptional.”

After the reservoir lakes are filled in late spring, water is gradually drawn from the lakes over the summer months until fall to support boat navigation in the Trent-Severn Waterway system.

Though spring thaws often prompt concerns of flooding, that is of less concern this year given the lack of snowmelt. What could be an issue to property owners, however, is shoreline damage caused by ice breaking up on the lakes.

“Most of the northern lakes still have ice cover which has broken away from the shore as the water level came up and the weather got warmer, and it’s breaking up and it can blow with high winds,” Spence says. “We know that shorelines are very vulnerable to ice damage and anybody who leaves structures in the water, like docks or posts, are always susceptible to damage from blowing ice, but this is certainly earlier (than usual).”

As for Mayor Amyotte, who resides on Eels Lake (a reservoir lake located north of Apsley) and is the representative on the Upper Trent Water Management Partnership, the risk lies in the months ahead should there not be increased levels of precipitation.

“If we’re starting off this season super dry, it wouldn’t surprise me to see us having fire bans starting off quite quickly,” she says. “Having a forest that’s under stress because it’s so dry is not good for potential fire risk.”

Amyotte notes too that, with the increased sunshine, any precipitation is more likely to evaporate than it is to be absorbed into the watershed, and that drought could change the migratory patterns of birds and animals, among other impacts on the ecosystems.

“When ecosystems are under stress because of droughts, they’re more susceptible to pests and diseases,” she says. “It has far-ranging consequences, and not only on our enjoyment of being able to fish or paddle downstream.”

While Amyotte and Spence both agree there is no need for cottage owners to rush up to their properties ahead of schedule, they should be prepared to operate differently this year.

“You may be moving your dock out a little sooner than you’re used to,” says Amyotte. “You may want to consider extending your water line in the lake if it’s in a spot that can get shallow — certainly for those reservoir lakes.”

She also encourages property owners to think ahead about proactive measures like installing rain barrels and to check out firesmartcanada.ca for tools and resources on taking inventory to monitor potential fire risks and safety measures.

For now, Spence assures that most dams have automated water gauges and that the Trent-Severn water management team gets “real-time data” which alters their ongoing management of water levels.

“Trent-Severn is doing everything they can to protect the interests of everybody in the basin by storing as much water as possible and storing it earlier than they would normally,” he says. “Their crews are out every day working on the channels, the logs, and the dams and they’re ready to deal with any kind of issue.”

“Nobody really knows what’s going to happen,” Amyotte adds. “But all we can say is we need rain, and we really need it to soak into the ground.”

Visit www.cewf.ca for resources on water management safety, or more information on water management of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Visit parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/info/infonet/niveau-eau-water-levels for up-to-date information on water levels in the Trent-Severn Waterway.

PDF: Trent River Watershed Flowchart
Trent River Watershed Flowchart

Northumberland County council is welcoming provincial government funding to the tune of $2.4 million towards establishing a new emergency shelter and homelessness support services in a former retirement home building in Cobourg.

In December 2023, Northumberland County announced a partnership with Transition House Shelter to modernize shelter services with the purchase of the 47-bedroom complex at 310 Division St. in Cobourg.

Expected to open in the spring, the facility will include about 35 emergency shelter spaces and a drop-in warming/cooling centre. It is intended to later provide increased services and transitional housing accommodations.

During a March 14 special county council meeting, council asked county staff to complete all required agreements with the province to secure $2,469,500 in additional funding from the homelessness prevention program for the Division Street initiative.

“In times of pressing need, collaboration between all levels of government is imperative,” said Northumberland County Warden Brian Ostrander in a media release.

“I commend the province for its commitment to partnership to tackle the impacts of homelessness in our community with this vital funding. Homelessness demands a unified effort, recognizing that no single entity can confront this complex issue alone. There is urgency to this mission and progress will be made through collective action.”

The county said the funding will be used “to expedite implementation of the full suite of services” planned for the Division Street facility. Based on the funding direction from the province, the money will support Northumberland County and Transition House Shelter with modernization of shelter services to reduce barriers for people seeking support, and will enable the accelerated implementation of transitional housing solutions at this location, the media release noted.

The county said these enhanced services “will be critical steps” towards resolving homeless encampments in the Town of Cobourg.

With the increasing impacts of homelessness facing Northumberland, the county announced in December 2023 it was continuing to seek out new opportunities for shelter, housing, and services to support vulnerable community members, which resulted in the partnership with Transition House.

“We are seeing the increasing impacts in Northumberland, with more people living rough in their cars, in parks and forested areas, individually or in encampments,” Mandy Martin, the previous county warden, said at the time.

“County council recognizes the need to rapidly expand new shelter, supportive, transitional, and affordable housing opportunities for vulnerable and low-income residents.”

During its December special council meeting about the shelter, county council heard from various people in support of, and against, the new facility.

Since then, the county has reached out to the community for input it intends to use to help shape integration of this shelter within the neighbourhood and the broader community. County council will receive during its regular March 20 county council meeting a report on feedback gathered through that process.

For more information about the modernization of shelter services at 310 Division St., visit northumberland.ca/sheltermodernization.

The Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha had donated $30,000 to help fund the cost of building a bathroom for patients at the Brock Primary Care Clinic in downtown Peterborough.

Located at the Brock Mission homeless shelter at 217 Murray Street, the clinic offers primary medical care for anyone experiencing homelessness — not just current shelter clients.

The clinic was co-founded in May 2022 by nurse practitioner Lee-Anne Quinn and Dr. Janet Kelly, who serves as the clinic’s collaborative physician. Along with Quinn and Dr. Kelly, nurse practitioners Anna Jamieson and Ginny Veselskiy, and Dr. John Beamish (retired medical director of Hospice Peterborough) currently volunteer at the clinic.

By providing primary care for people experiencing homelessness that addresses infections and chronic illnesses before they require serious medical intervention, the clinic alleviates stress on the emergency department at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

However, since it opened, the clinic has been operating without a bathroom that patients can use. Since many of the patients served by the clinic are not residents of the shelter, the lack of a bathroom has made it difficult for the clinic to obtain urine samples from those patients.

Clinic patients are asked to walk around half a kilometre to use the public washroom at the Peterborough police station on Water Street, and they often do not return to the clinic with their urine samples.

The lack of bathroom facilities also means the clinic cannot offer a shower to a homeless client.

Along with the $30,000 donated by the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha, the Peterborough Family Health Team has also contributed $30,000 to the $60,000 cost for the bathroom, which will be built by Mortlock Construction.

“We are pleased and proud that we could fund this important project that assists those experiencing homelessness in our community,” says Kawartha Rotary president Paul Landau, in a media release. “I would like to thank community members who assist with our fundraising efforts by purchasing items during our Christmas auction or attend our annual summer Kawartha Ribfest.”