A 17-year-old from Cavan-Monaghan Township is dead after he was struck by a vehicle in the west end of Peterborough early Saturday morning (September 14).

At around 3 a.m. on Saturday, police officers responded to a 9-1-1 call about a pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle in the North Monaghan Parkway and Dobbin Road area.

The driver of the vehicle remained on the scene and provided first aid to the teenager until first responders arrived.

The teen was transported to Peterborough Regional Health Centre where he succumbed to his injuries.

The roadway was closed for about eight hours while the police investigated and documented the scene.

Police have not released the name of the victim or whether the driver is facing any charges.

Northumberland County council will take a look at the findings of a study exploring police services in Northumberland, including the concept of having one county-wide force, during its next regular meeting of county council.

The results of the Northumberland County Police Services Review study will be before council on Wednesday (September 18). The county council meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at county headquarters in Cobourg on Courthouse Road and is also accessible on the county’s YouTube channel and can be joined through Zoom.

StrategyCorp, the consultant hired by the county to undertake the review, completed the study following a four-month process that kicked off in April. Council requested the study be completed to assess current policing practices across Northumberland County and explore potential future service delivery models.

Municipality of Brighton Mayor Brian Ostrander, who currently serves as the warden of Northumberland County council, earlier told kawarthaNOW that having one county-wide police force for Northumberland instead of three separate services was worth a second look.

Ostrander said he proposed to council the motion of updating the 2007 study on the same issue for a few reasons.

“It showed there could be some fairly significant savings if there was an amalgamated service or one contract across the county,” Ostrander told kawarthaNOW. “I wondered if it was of interest to have that study updated, and it was.”

As local municipalities prepare for anticipated regional population growth of 35 per cent over the next 25 years, findings from this study are intended to “support informed decision-making around future policing services,” Northumberland County noted in a media release.

Currently in Northumberland County, the Cobourg Police Service serves the Town of Cobourg, the Port Hope Police Service primarily serves the urban area of the Municipality of Port Hope, and the OPP’s Northumberland detachment (with locations in Cobourg, Brighton, and Campbellford) serves the rural area of the Municipality of Port Hope, along with Hamilton Township, Alnwick-Haldimand Township, Cramahe Township, the Municipality of Brighton, and the Municipality of Trent Hills.

At the meeting, council will review the study that looks at existing service models — considering service levels, operational costs, and evolving community needs — and identifies options for future service delivery.

The review was expected to encompass stakeholder interviews and a thorough evaluation of current policing service levels, operational costs, and existing revenue streams. The goal was to provide recommendations for future service delivery based on options ranging from maintaining existing service structures to consideration of a combined model, the county noted.

Following discussion, county council will decide whether to move forward with the second phase of the project, which would involve a full costing of alternative service delivery models identified in the study.

“Ultimately, any changes to local policing models would be at the discretion of each lower-tier municipality, with whom jurisdiction for police services resides,” the county noted.

To learn more about the police services review study, and to access the report being presented at the meeting, visit joinin.northumberland.ca. For the agenda of the September 18 meeting and instructions on how to watch the meeting or join via Zoom, visit northumberland.ca/council.

Rebecca Rose, a member of the Lakefield Pride Committee, vividly remembers her encounter with a local senior during the first Pride picnic in the village of Lakefield.

The woman, who Rose had previously met, introduced her non-binary adult child to Rose at the event.

“(The mother) doesn’t drive, and lives at the local senior citizens’ apartments,” Rose told kawarthaNOW. “Her entire community is Lakefield. When her child expressed their identity to her, she didn’t understand, she was afraid, and worried for her child. She didn’t share with any of her peers as she felt shame.”

“She believed something was wrong with her child, and wondered how she had gone wrong,” Rose added. “A few hours at our picnic and she left armed with information, reassurance, pamphlets, and the knowledge that her adult child was okay. She was full of pride and happiness, and most of all, relief.”

The encounter, according to Rose, remains one reason why having a Pride picnic in Lakefield each year is critical for the village.

While the Lakefield Pride Committee participates in the Peterborough-Nogojiwanong Pride’s Pride Week from September 20 to 29, Rose says it’s also important for the village to have its own event.

Committee members are getting ready for the fourth annual Lakefield Pride picnic, which is slated for Sunday, September 22. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Isabel Morris Park, which is located at 20 Concession St. in Lakefield.

“Even though Lakefield is only a short car ride from Peterborough, it is its own community and often those who live there are isolated to it,” Rose said. “If we can reach one person every year who learns something, or feels safer, or more included, then this project is worth everything we put into it.”

There are kids in Lakefield who face bullying from other young people and the adults around them, Rose noted.

“Our event arose out of criticism a mother received while her young son was innocently playing dress-up in his sister’s princess dresses in the front yard one day, and news articles about a Pride flag being burned at a school in a neighbouring town,” Rose explained.

According to Rose, the Lakefield Pride picnic was primarily an initiative of young people who grew up and live in the village and want to make a difference.

“By supporting them to create this event, they are empowered to be the change they want to see in the world,” Rose said.

As for the woman with a non-binary child, attending the Lakefield Pride picnic was an important local support for her in understanding and learning to accept her child’s identity.

“This mother would never have had the ability or occasion to attend any of the other Peterborough Pride events, as she is exclusively a pedestrian, and had not told anyone she knew about her concerns,” Rose pointed out.

This year the Lakefield Pride Committee is hoping for, as always, great weather and a large community turn out.

“We really just want to create a great experience for our community to share love and kindness for all,” Rose said.

For more information about Lakefield Pride, visit lakefieldpride.com.

A group of doctors in Peterborough has created a physician think tank with the hopes of healing what ails the primary care sector, which is currently in the state of an “escalating crisis,” one physician says.

Dr. Madura Sundareswaran, the Peterborough family doctor who formed the think tank, said the group is necessary to uncover new solutions to meet the growing shortage of family doctors in the city and elsewhere. The think tank meets regularly to identify challenges and brainstorm strategies with the hopes of finding a remedy for the fragile primary care component of the health care system.

“This group aims to strengthen the sense of community among physicians and advocate for changes in the community to maintain access to primary care,” Dr. Sundareswaran said in a media release.

Earlier this summer, the think tank generated a report proposing a collaborative, multi-systems level strategy that could be used to guide future recruitment and retention efforts.

“The think tank hopes to work alongside the City of Peterborough to support its recent commitment to physician recruitment and retention,” Dr. Sundareswaran added.

Dr. Sundareswaran, who earlier this year received an award from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario that honours outstanding Ontario doctors, shared with kawarthaNOW her motivation for the initiative.

“Our local family doctors have all been impacted by the numerous family physician retirements and practice closures in our community over the last few years — the ever-increasing administrative burden, burnout and operational expenses continue to threaten the future of our profession,” Dr. Sundareswaran said.

“Despite this, Peterborough is made up of a strong group of family physicians who continue to enjoy their work, are passionate about what they do, and dedicate time and resources to train the next generation of family physicians.”

PDF: Recruitment & Retention – Peterborough Family Doctors’ Think Tank
Recruitment & Retention - Peterborough Family Doctors' Think Tank

The think tank aims to identify and address community-level challenges of administrative and systemic barriers “that threaten the future of the profession and compromise direct patient care,” Dr. Sundareswaran said.

“The solution to successful family physician recruitment and retention cannot lie on the shoulders of a single entity, but requires collaboration between various stakeholders including but not limited to the City of Peterborough, the provincial government, and family physicians themselves.”

She hopes to foster a sense of community among family physicians and support local recruitment and retention efforts. Being involved in the think tank is a unique endeavor for many of its participants and encourages both physician leadership and advocacy, the doctor added.

The think tank’s report shares perspectives on recruitment efforts to date and highlights potential solutions to help strengthen the recruitment and retention efforts within the community. Dr. Sundareswaran is hopeful the report can serve as a guideline for organizations, such as local government, which have identified physician recruitment as a priority.

The report shares feedback on recruitment efforts to date and “provides tangible solutions for a community-focused physician recruitment strategy.” Physicians share perspectives on incentive programs and stress the need for programs that support both new and existing family physicians.

“Family physicians are hoping for a more transparent, collaborative, and reliable recruitment strategy in the future, and hope to work with the City of Peterborough in the upcoming months to achieve this,” Dr. Sundareswaran said.

“By creating specific, community-focused goals, the think tank aims to … support physician-led initiatives to improve the local landscape of primary care,” Dr. Sundareswaran added. “In doing so, the think tank lends itself to become an innovative and productive recruitment and retention tool for family physicians.”

Each think tank session draws between 15 and 25 participants.

Since launching this initiative, the group has created resources for family physicians, including letter templates to standardize communication with community partners and a database of local referral destinations. The think tank has also advocated for changes in how referrals and letters are received between primary care and partner institutions.

“By being independent, the think tank aims to provide an objective forum and unify the voices of our local family physicians in a way that does not yet exist,” Dr. Sundareswaran said.

In response to the growing family physician shortage, the think tank is motivated to find solutions to mend “the escalating crisis,” she added.

The think tank is also working on strategies to retain physicians, which is another big challenge. Read more in an upcoming article in kawarthaNOW.

A photo by a Kawartha Lakes woman is one of eight winners of this year’s national Lake Biodiversity Photo Challenge.

Barb Callander’s photo of a pair of curious river otters in a wetland feeding Balsam Lake was selected as a judges’ favourite in the namesake category of the fourth annual challenge organized by hosted by Living Lakes Canada, an award-winning water science and stewardship non-profit organization.

“The lake system is under pressure from increased nutrient loading and invasive species,” Callander wrote as part of the caption for her photo.

Nearly 450 photos were submitted for the 2024 challenge, which celebrates lakes across Canada and raises awareness around what’s threatening their biodiversity.

Judges’ favourites and public favourites were selected in each of four categories — lake landscapes, lake biodiversity, and lake impacts, along with a youth category — for a total of eight winning shots from across Canada, plus a special mention.

The judges’ favourites were selected by a panel of Living Lakes Canada team members and photo challenge partners and prize sponsors, and the public favourites were selected based on 1,228 votes.

The full list of winners is below.

Judges’ Favourites

• Lake Landscapes Category: Mario Mailloux, Lanaudière region, QC
• Lake Biodiversity Category: Barb Callander, Kawartha Lakes, ON
• Lake Impacts Category: Haolun Tian, Eastern Ontario
• Kids Category: Zoe Bystrov, Simcoe County, ON

Public Favourites

• Lake Landscapes Category: Andy Li, Banff National Park, AB
• Lake Biodiversity Category: Adam Benn, Okanagan, BC
• Lake Impacts Category: Tracey, Halladay, East Kootenays, BC
• Kids Category: Neora Varghese, Southern Alberta, AB

Special Mention

• Sophie Sanfacon, Vancouver Island, BC

Each winner will receive the grand prize of an online photography workshop with professional photographer Viktoria Haak, Nikon Canada Ambassador and Kase Filter Global Ambassador, as well as prize packages with items from Kicking Horse Coffee, Lush, and Laykhaus.

All the winning photos, along with all other submissions, can be viewed at livinglakescanada.ca/lbpc2024.

Peterborough’s Kawartha World Issues Centre (KWIC) is asking residents to “think global and act local” when it comes to making a meaningful difference in the community in Peterborough and beyond.

The charitable organization is hosting a milestone anniversary celebration and fundraiser on Tuesday, October 29 called “Think Global, Act Local: 35 Years of KWIC.” The event begins at 6 p.m. at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough and will explore and celebrate KWIC’s history and provide a glimpse into the future for the organization.

Dr. Stephanie Rutherford, chair of the 35th anniversary committee and vice-chair of the board, told kawarthaNOW that KWIC has a few aspirations for the upcoming 35th anniversary affair.

“Our hope is that this event will be a celebration of the three-and-a-half decades of KWIC advocacy to make our community a better place,” said Rutherford, who is also associate professor of environment and resource studies at Trent University.

“We want this be a joyful event, where people come together to recognize our successes and recommit ourselves to making positive change in Peterborough and beyond. We also hope this event will be an opportunity for those less familiar with KWIC to learn about our work and build our community.”

The event features a keynote speech by award-winning anti-racism and Indigenous researcher and entrepreneur Larissa Crawford, addressing the importance of youth voices in the fight for social and environmental justice.

“Crawford proudly passes on Métis and Jamaican ancestry to her daughter, Zyra, and is a published Indigenous, anti-racism, and climate justice researcher, policy advisor, and restorative circle keeper with over 15 years of experience,” a media release noted. She is also the founder of Future Ancestors Services, a social impact and sustainability consulting firm that aims to advance systemic barrier removal through anti-racism and ancestral accountability.

The event will also feature a performance by Mimi O’Bonsawin, a contemporary roots singer-songwriter born in northeastern Ontario with mixed French Canadian and Abénaki heritage, and a member of Odanak First Nation.

“Through her rhythm and story-driven songs, Mimi’s music embraces the beauty of Land,” the release said.

KWIC has been invested in creating change in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough and in the surrounding areas since 1989, and has engaged with causes such as the UN’s sustainable development goals, food justice, gender equality, and climate justice.

The centre’s work currently focuses on empowering youth to become changemakers through skill development and education opportunities such as mentorship programs, in-school workshops and placements. KWIC invites all community members to join the organization in the quest to Think Global, Act Local and share in conversation about the future of advocacy and the role of young people in creating change.

Residents can attend the event and also support KWIC’s ongoing fundraising efforts by participating in the silent auction, which features a variety of donated prizes including personal training sessions, a Yankee Candle gift hamper, and some exclusive vintage KWIC swag.

Tickets for the October 29 event are $100 and can be purchased online at markethall.org or by emailing KWIC at development@kwic.info.

Looking ahead, Rutherford provided a preview of KWIC’s future goals.

“The primary focus of KWIC will continue to be to mentoring local youth changemakers to take action on global issues, creating a more just and sustainable world,” she said. “In line with our new strategic plan, we will empower youth and community members to take action through mentorship and community education that connects global issues to local initiatives.”

“Over the next 35 years, KWIC’s focus will be expanding its network of youth changemakers while continuing to empower a new generation of young people to lead the way toward a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.”

For more information about Kawartha World Issues Centre, visit kwic.info.

If anything was abundantly clear Wednesday night (September 11) at the Peterborough Lions Community Centre in East City, it’s that the city that earlier generations called home is long gone and there’s no chance of a comeback.

Manufacturing giants are long departed, infrastructure is straining under increased traffic, and barely a week passes without word that a long-established business is either closing or relocating. Then there’s crime.

But as the audience of some 120 people gathered at the Burnham Street meeting place were well aware, it’s the types of crime that is causing the most concern. Residential and vehicle break-ins are all too common, making all, regardless of where they live, more susceptible to being a victim.

On this night, crime and police enforcement in Area 4 — a police-designated sector that encompasses Ashburnham Ward as well as south Peterborough west to past Monaghan Road — was the focus during a community meeting called for by resident Kelly King and subsequently organized by Ashburnham Ward councillors Keith Riel and Gary Baldwin.

Peterborough Police Service Staff Sergeant Mark Reesor was the keynote speaker, but Chief Stuart Betts made a surprise appearance.

After providing a lengthy review of the organizational structure of the city police service, which is comprised of 148 deployable officers and 80 civilian staff, Staff Sgt. Reesor revealed that occurrences of violent crime in the city, as measured by the national Crime Severity Index, have dropped by one per cent since 2022.

Further, also since 2022, there has been a reduction of more than seven per cent in non-violent crimes. Combined, Peterborough has seen drop of just more five per cent, ranking 21st out of 45 Ontario municipalities, with one being the worst ranking.

Not surprisingly, that revelation came as a surprise to most on hand.

“We would love to see those numbers drop more,” said Staff Sgt. Reesor. “But the fact they’re going down, and trending down, doesn’t mean that the work is done — but it’s certainly trending in the right direction.”

Despite that overall decrease, city police are responding to significantly more calls.

From January 1 to the end of August, officers responded to 26,699 occurrences, which is a sizable jump of 10 per cent over the same period in 2023. However, just 16.5 per cent of those occurrences — 4,415 — were “criminal in nature.”

During the same period, 3,079 criminal charges were laid, a 33 per cent increase over the same time frame in 2023. Broken down further, charges laid for theft under $5,000 are up 61 per cent this year, followed by failure to comply with probation (up 53 per cent), and possession of property obtained by crime (up 39 per cent).

According to Staff Sgt. Reesor, most of the calls that police are responding to aren’t related to crime at all.

“What are they? They are a whole bunch of different things. It could be a neighbour dispute, which isn’t criminal. It could be an unwanted person. It could be a motor vehicle accident. It could be somebody asking for information or advice. There’s a ton of different types of calls that we respond to.”

“When somebody calls and says ‘I need help,’ we go because often there’s nobody else to go. It may not be our primary job or role, but when somebody calls and asks for help they expect somebody to show up. That’s us because no one else is often responding.”

Meanwhile, referring specifically to Area 4, Staff Sgt. Reesor noted officers have responded to 6,045 occurrences this year, again to the end of August — a 12 per cent jump over the same period last year. Close to 20 per cent of those occurrences — 1,197 — resulted in criminal charges being laid.

“There’s a real mix in this area of town,” said Staff Sgt. Reesor. “We’ve got schools. We’ve got businesses. We’ve got residential, and we’ve got industrial. It just creates a lot of different dynamics. That’s not unique to this area, but it certainly plays into how we respond to calls and what takes up a lot of our time.”

The good news, noted Staff Sgt. Reesor, can be found in the early success of the police service’s Community F.I.R.S.T. (Community-Focused Investigation Response Support Team) unit. Launched in January as a year-long pilot program and comprised of four frontline officers, its sole responsibility is to investigate property crimes involving both residences and businesses.

This year has seen Community F.I.R.S.T. respond to 1,149 calls and recover $31,414.80 in stolen property as well as 112 shopping carts, more than 20 bicycles, and a handful of green organic waste bins.

“Community F.I.R.S.T. is dealing with what would be triaged as low priority (crime), meaning there not an immediate safety risk,” Staff Sgt. Reesor noted. “Thefts are typically in this category.”

“If somebody breaks into your car overnight and steals a bunch of stuff, it’s important to us, but we may not have an officer available at that time to send right away because of our call volumes. This unit follows up on those types of calls.”

Staff Sgt. Reesor also spoke at length on the service’s Safer Public Spaces initiative. When it was launched in October 2023, it made Peterborough one of just two Canadian police jurisdictions that has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to the use of illicit drugs in public.

Staff Sgt. Reesor drew the meeting’s loudest reaction when he noted Chief Betts has directed “our primary function as a police service is public safety.”

That said, officers encountering someone using an illicit substance in public is first asked to go the Consumption and Treatment Site at 220 Simcoe Street in downtown Peterborough, where he or she can do so legally while begin medically supervised. As a result, of the 395 calls responded to under the program, only 13 arrests have been made, and those for non-drug related reasons.

“When the public doesn’t feel safe, that’s a problem,” acknowledged Staff Sgt. Reesor. “You should have the right to be safe and feel safe. That’s specifically what this program is geared towards. When we get a call about somebody using drugs in an open public space, we will respond and we will deal with that person.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re going to show up and arrest the person, but we’re going to speak with that person and let them know that that behaviour is not appropriate — that we’re not going to tolerate it. Then we’re going to direct them to services that are available in the community. The idea of just pushing them down the road isn’t effective.”

Staff Sgt. Reesor said 78 of the 395 calls for open air drug use were in Area 4. And of the total, 361 calls were resident-initiated.

“That’s good,” he pointed out. “We don’t have the resources to be everywhere. There’s a lot of people in this room, and in Peterborough, that see things. We want to know what’s going on so we can deal with it.”

Finally, Staff Sgt Reesor addressed what is perhaps the most contentious issue for many city residents: tenting.

“If it happens on city property, city bylaw enforcement is the primary responding agency, not the police,” he clarified. “If they require our assistance, they’ll call us and we’ll go and assist them. But our primary purpose, our mandate, isn’t to be dragging people in tents off of public property. Same with bus shelters.”

Somewhat surprisingly, when questions were opened up to the audience, there was little concrete criticism — contrary to what you might see on social media — of city police’s performance. However, there were requests for clarifications about police procedures and initiatives outlined earlier by Staff Sgt. Reesor.

After the meeting, he told kawarthaNOW that the meeting turnout alone provided encouragement for a police service that is tasked to do more with less due to budget restraints.

“When people don’t show up, it means they’ve stopped caring,” Staff Sgt. Reesor explained. “So to see this many people is great. It shows us that people still care. People want to see our community get better.”

He added that the changing make-up of communities across the province, Peterborough included, is a fact of life that is a factor in the occurrences of certain types of crime and how police services adapt to meet the challenges presented.

“I grew up in Peterborough — I remember when it was different than it is now,” Staff Sgt. Reesor said. “Maybe (we) were a little bit more ignorant to the things that were going on back then, but we have seen a shift in this community. It is disappointing and sad to see that shift. I think that certainly spurred a lot of the people to come tonight.”

Although he did not specifically address it when speaking from the podium, Staff Sgt. Reesor implied that crime prevention begins with the exercising of common sense.

“We can only be so many places at a time,” he said of the police. “A couple of the programs I talked about tonight are geared toward providing people with information about how they can reduce the risk of crime at their residence or business.”

“Absolutely people need to take steps in order to reduce the risk of crime. There’s a place for police — our presence and other things play into efforts to reduce overall crime — but we can’t be everywhere, so it is partly on individuals and businesses as well.”