Peterborough city council’s recent decision not to provide funding for the unsuccessful candidates for community investment grants has left The Theatre On King (TTOK) reeling and looking back to the community for support as they figure out their next steps.

According to TTOK artistic director Ryan Kerr, while the organization will be able to deliver its previously planned programming through to the end of June, beyond that there are a lot of unknowns.

“My lease is up in the summer and so depending on what happens between now and June, we’ll determine what happens in the future,” Kerr said in an interview with kawarthaNOW. “I also need to talk to my landlord to see how long the lease will be … if it’s going to be a five-year lease or a two-year lease or stuff like that. That will also affect the decision about going forward, because we can’t do this — we can’t live like this for the next five years.”

However, glimmers of hope for TTOK’s future have emerged in the form of an anonymous donor who has promised to match donations up to $7,500 as well as a commitment from TTOK’s landlord Michael Cherney of Cherney Properties to donate $1,000 to the theatre while challenging other local businesses to do the same.

A petition called ‘Save The Theatre On King: Urge The City of Peterborough to Fund TTOK’ launched on change.org is still available and has received over 1,500 signatures to date.

TTOK is also accepting donations, through Public Energy’s CanadaHelps page, as a charitable trustee of Public Energy Performing Arts.

Despite these promising endeavours and widespread community support, a great deal of uncertainty remains and the prospect of closing the theatre has become a real possibility.

Alongside the uncertainty is a profound disappointment in the majority of council’s unwillingness to see the value in continuing to fund TTOK, leading both Kerr and TTOK’s artistic administrator Kate Story to point out that, given the current funding model and the attitudes of some city councillors, those who received funding this year shouldn’t come to expect to receive funding in subsequent years.

“I feel Theatre On King is of course our immediate priority, but every single person, every single organization that receives money from the City of Peterborough, should pay attention to this conversation,” Story told kawarthaNOW. “There’s absolutely no reason why any of those people who got money this year will get it next year at this point.”

Story points out an organization’s success in receiving municipal funding aids immensely in strengthening applications for funding from other levels of government or private funds. In the case of an organization not being able to demonstrate a track record of successful grants, or if funding is suddenly lost from a particular source, this is seen as a major red flag to other prospective funding sources.

“Last year, we were able to get a Canada Council grant, a project grant,” Story explained. “That was very much because the city had funded us. It keeps our doors open, so we can apply for those project grants but then they see that we have the funding.”

“We have an application in right now for a grant in more of the social services sector, and we had to field a phone call from them saying, ‘So we’ve seen the media, are you guys still viable? Should we continue to consider your application?'”

These fears and warnings echo concerns expressed by delegates at the city council meeting last Monday (March 27) that saw both TTOK and the Peterborough Artisans Centre formally appeal the decision of the granting committee to deny their applications for funding.

Following the appeals, councillor Matt Crowley introduced a motion — with a friendly amendment by councillor Alex Bierk — to provide $9,500 to the theatre from the city’s contingency fund. While council voted down that motion 7-3, council did vote unanimously in support of Crowley’s motion to instigate a review of the application and assessment process.

However, the idea of a review is proving to be anxiety-inducing for those who perceive the overtly ideological framing of municipal funding for the arts.

“I would say the three progressive people on council want to review it because they want to see fair funding for all sectors,” Story said. “They can sort of see that there’s a problem here. Certainly, the arts are not getting fair funding. And also this sort of threat to operating funding is huge across the sector. So on the left, or whatever you want to call the progressives you see, they want to review the program for that reason.”

The spectre of political or ideological interference in the review looms large for Story. Chief among her concerns is the perception of undue influence over the process due to its not following the arm’s-length granting process followed in other municipalities and at the provincial and federal levels.

Such a process has long been requested by leaders in Peterborough’s arts community. According to Su Ditta, executive director of the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), the current debate circles back to a long-standing request from the city’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Advisory Committee (now called the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee) and EC3 that the city review the program, including separating arts and culture from other sectors such as social services and sports also covered by the community investment grants.

A report published by EC3 in June 2020 on the topic of best practices concerning the allocation of arts funding in Canada studied eight Canadian municipal arts councils to demonstrate the significance of arm’s-length peer assessment agencies within a municipal framework when allocating arts funding.

In the report’s conclusion, there is a direct called from EC3 for the City of Peterborough to “transfer the administration of the key operating and project grants program … from the City to EC3, following the principles of arm’s-length and peer assessment as best practices” in order to “bring the development and delivery of the City’s arts funding processes in line with those of the federal government, most provincial governments, and many municipal governments.”

When reached for comment on what had transpired at the March 27th council meeting, Ditta called the proceedings and ultimate decision a “slaughter” of the arts in the city of Peterborough.

“Arts and culture in the city has grown since that process was initiated,” Ditta said, before explaining that arm’s-length arts councils, made up of individuals working in the arts and cultural community — or peer assessment — are the “best practice and gold standard” due to their ability to “rigorously assess the impact of an arts organization” within a given community.

“We want to protect the public’s investment,” said Ditta, noting taxpayers expect this funding to sustain the community and the vitality of the organizations it goes toward.

The current application process “is wholly insufficient to seriously adjudicate an arts organization,” Ditta added, while being careful to note that criticizing the process isn’t personal, as some councillors seemed to imply.

Rather, Ditta was adamant that in showcasing the need for more specialized funding streams for arts and culture, councillors, city staff, and committee members would merely be demonstrating that they’ve done such a good job of fostering growth in the sector that now requires more specialized attention and processes.

When it comes to the city’s grant program, Story sees TTOK as the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” for Peterborough’s arts and culture community. According to Story, part of the problem goes back to the amount of funding allocated for the program — despite a predictable increase in the number of applications and therefore demand from both new and previous recipients.

“There was never a question of ‘Oh look, there’s so many more applicants this year, maybe we need to ask for more in the community granting pot’,” Story said, referring the city’s draft 2023 budget, which was presented to council in December and approved on January 30. “That wasn’t even brought up. There is no one steering the boat.”

“I don’t understand how you could be in charge of something and not care about it. Where’s the stewardship?”

A 42-year-old Peterborough man is dead following a two-vehicle collision on Lakehurst Road in Trent Lakes southwest of Buckhorn early Friday afternoon (March 31).

At around 1 p.m., a pickup truck and a car collided on Lakehurst Road between Anchor Bay Road and Elim Lodge Road.

The driver of the car, a 42-year-old man from Peterborough, has been pronounced dead.

No other injuries were reported at the time of the time of the collision, according to police.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation.

Lakehurst Road will remain closed between Anchor Bay Road and Elim Lodge Road for several hours while Peterborough County OPP document the scene.

The cardiac centre at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) has been dedicated to philanthropist James “Jim” Neill, who donated $5 million to the PRHC Foundation in 2021 — the largest donation in the foundation’s history.

At a dedication event on Thursday (March 30) attended by Neill and his family and friends, signage was unveiled on the exterior northeast corner of the hospital proclaiming the ‘James B. Neill Cardiac Centre’.

When he made his historic gift to the PRHC Foundation in 2021, Neill said he was inspired after moving back to the Peterborough area and realizing how important it is to have cardiac care services close to home.

“Where I used to live in Toronto, there were four hospitals within a 15-minute drive of my home — all of which offered lifesaving emergency cardiac care,” Neill said in 2021. “As I understand it, it’s essential that we limit the time and distance our loved ones, friends, and neighbours need to travel to get to get the same standard of care. I want to be part of that process of providing very timely cardiac care close to home.”

As Thursday’s dedication event, Neill expressed his appreciation to the hospital and his hope that his donation will inspire others to support the hospital.

“To have my name on the side of the building, to see it associated with such an outstanding hospital and such exceptional and talented health care professionals, is a great honour,” Neill said. “It’s my hope that when patients, visitors, and staff look up and see it, they’ll be encouraged and inspired to support their hospital in whatever way they can, much as the donors who came before inspired me. Thank you for granting me the opportunity to be part of the great tradition of philanthropy that has been part of PRHC’s history since the beginning.”

PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway said Neill’s donation is already empowering the hospital to respond to the rapidly growing needs of the region through the enhancement and expansion of cardiac services.

“We’ve come together this afternoon to commemorate an act of visionary generosity so transformational, it’s not only improving the quality of care available at PRHC today, it’s actively shaping the future of cardiac care in our region,” Heighway said. “Together with our community of donors, Mr. Neill is saving and improving the lives of thousands upon thousands of present and future patients and for that, as well as the inspiration his donation will provide to so many, we’re incredibly grateful.”

Dr. Warren Ball, interventional cardiologist and head of the cardiology division at PRHC, said Neill and other donors are supporting lifesaving and minimally invasive cardiac diagnosis and stenting in the hospital’s two cardiac catheterization laboratory suites, where were replaced and upgraded using state-of-the art technology in December.

“Our new cath lab technology provides images of even greater diagnostic quality, while using less radiation — meaning it supports shorter procedures and is even safer for patients,” Dr. Ball said. “We’re able to treat more patients locally, helping to eliminate the time and stress of travelling to a bigger centre for cardiac services.”

PRHC president and CEO Dr. Peter McLaughlin said Neill’s $5 million donation will play a pivotal role in the delivery of cardiac care at PRHC for years to come, allowing the hospital to realize their vision for expanded cardiac services.

“Donor support is unlocking opportunities and ensuring the people, infrastructure, systems and programs are in place to usher in a new era of care in our region,” McLaughlin said. “Your generosity says our community believes in our vision and that you, and others like you, stand beside us. Thank you.”

The body of a 46-year-old man was discovered in the Otonabee River in Peterborough on Thursday morning (March 30).

Peterborough police were contacted at around 8:15 a.m. after the man’s body was discovered in the area of the CP Rail Bridge and pedestrian walkway.

The area was closed to pedestrian traffic for about an hour.

Police have released no other information about the man’s identity or the possible cause of his death.

The coroner is now investigating with the assistance of Peterborough police.