Dr. Lynn Mikula has been named the next president and chief executive officer of Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), the hospital announced on Monday (December 12).

Currently a member of the hospital’s senior leadership team, Dr. Mikula will assume her new position on March 31, 2023.

She is replacing Dr. Peter McLaughlin, who is retiring after a 50-year career in health care — including 17 years with PRHC, the last eight of which he served as president and CEO.

Dr. Mikula was selected as the hospital’s president and CEO following a national recruitment process and extensive stakeholder consultation and brings “a vast wealth of knowledge, experience and strong personal and professional connections” to the role, according to the hospital’s board of directors.

“Dr. Mikula embodies the qualities identified by our stakeholders as being vitally important in a hospital leader and, from the beginning of the process, she was a standout candidate,” says board chair Robert Gibson. “She is an experienced hospital leader and surgeon with an impressive career background, and she devotes a great deal of passion and energy to the health centre and its people.”

Dr. Mikula joined the surgical team at PRHC in 2011 as a staff general surgeon, and was appointed chief of surgery in 2015. She took on the additional role of chair of the medical advisory committee in 2017, while continuing her work as a practising surgeon with the hospital. She currently is the hospital’s executive vice president, chief of staff, chief medical executive, and chief medical information officer,

“Her leadership as chief of staff has earned her widespread respect among her colleagues at the hospital, in the community and throughout the region, particularly over the last several years of the COVID-19 pandemic, through which she has been a strong, reassuring, and highly visible presence,” Gibson notes.

While there was “a talented pool of candidates” for the president and CEO position, according to the board, Dr. Mikula ultimately demonstrated herself to be the front-runner to lead the hospital into the future.

“I think what we can say about Dr. Mikula is that her energy, drive, and vision for this organization were unmatched during the search process, and that her reputation and track record as a leader are second to none,” Gibson says. “She has an in-depth understanding of the current challenges in health care and a clear vision for acute health care in Peterborough, and she sees a path forward to a vibrant and exciting future for PRHC.”

“We are so pleased to have identified a candidate who embodies all of the qualities we and our stakeholders have been seeking, and to have found those qualities in an individual who has a strong, established history with PRHC and our community,” Gibson adds.

Dr. Mikula earned her MD CM at McGill University, followed by surgical residency and fellowship at the University of Toronto. She has an MSc in cancer genetics from the University of Toronto and a Master of Management from McGill. She lives in Peterborough with her husband and their three children.

“I am thrilled and honoured to have been selected,” says Dr. Mikula. “I am constantly inspired by the people of PRHC, who bring so much dedication, passion, and skill to their work every day. The last few years have had their challenges, but working together, I’m confident that we will emerge as a regional hospital that is leading the way with partnership, innovation and, above all, a focus on excellent care.”

“I’d like to thank the Board of Directors for their confidence in my leadership and my vision. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity.”

A Kawartha Lakes man is one of 24 bakers from across Canada vying for a $50,000 prize in CTV’s new reality cake competition series Cross Country Cake Off, hosted and judged by chef and cookbook author Mary Berg and celebrated pastry chef Andrew Han.

In the four-episode series premiering on Thursday (December 15), Derek Welch of Pontypool will compete in a qualifying round in Toronto against seven other bakers from central Canada.

Another eight bakers from eastern Canada will compete in a qualifying round in Halifax, with another eight bakers from western Canada competing in Vancouver. Four bakers from each of the three regional qualifying rounds will then move on a festive cake challenge, with the top two from each region selected to compete in the finale.

For Welch, a truck driver by trade, baking is a weekend hobby he shares with his daughter Taylor. You can follow them at “Daddy Daughter Sweet Treats” on Facebook and Instagram. The cake Welch will present during his qualifying round, filmed at Toronto’s Casa Loma earlier this year, has a woodland theme.

“For me that’s the most relaxing spot to unwind and clear my head,” he says in a promotional video.

The first two episodes of Cross Country Cake Off will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on December 15 and 16 on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app.

VIDEO: “Cross Country Cake Off” trailer

Hamilton-based musician, artist, and author Tom Wilson believed he was of Irish heritage for the first 54 years of his life — and then he discovered he was actually Mohawk.

Students at Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough were entranced by Wilson’s story, which he shared with them during an event at the school on Thursday afternoon (December 8).

Wilson, who was in Peterborough to perform with his band Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at the Market Hall, is an artist ambassador for the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund in partnership with Sony Music Publishing. The Downie & Wenjack Fund’s artist ambassador program brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous musicians, artists, and knowledge keepers into legacy schools to inspire student leadership and forward the journey of reconciliation in communities.

In addition to making a donation to the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund as part of Sony’s “Season of Giving,” Sony bought Wilson to Immaculate Conception school to speak with 50 young students about his experience and about reconciliation.

Also speaking at the event were Lisa Prinn, manager of education and activation from the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, and Rebecca Watts from the Lovesick Lake Native Women’s Association, along with representatives from Sony Music Canada.

“I’m 63 years old, so I’m probably the same age as most of your grandparents,” Wilson told the group of young students. “But only nine years ago, I found out from a complete stranger that I was adopted. Now that’s a long life to live in mystery and not knowing your origins, and always suspecting that your mom and dad aren’t your mom and dad. That’s the life I lived for 54 years.”

Wilson recounted how, two weeks after he found out he was adopted, he was driving his cousin Janie home after celebrating the birthday of one of Wilson’s grandsons. Janie, who is 18 years older than Wilson, has been around Wilson for his entire life and is the matriarch at family gatherings. When Wilson told Janie he had found out he was adopted, she revealed a secret that would change his life.

“My cousin Janie turned to me and said ‘Tom, I don’t know how to tell you this. I’m sorry and I hope you forgive me, but I’m your mother’,” Wilson told the students, adding that both she and his birth father were Mohawk from Kahnawake First Nation, located outside of Montreal.

“I grew up for 54 years thinking I was a big, puffy, sweaty Irish guy — I’m actually Mohawk from Kahnawake,” Wilson said. The couple that raised Wilson, Bunny and George, were actually his great aunt and uncle and “were completely loving.”

“Since I found out that I’m actually Indigenous and not Irish, it’s now my goal through my art to work every day to put the Mohawk culture into a bright light and to work for Indigenous issues, Indigenous problems, to go and try to fight for communities. It’s what I’m doing here today with you guys.”

Wilson — whose Mohawk name is Tehoh’ahake, which means “Two Roads” — also told the students about a project he’s spearheading to replace trees that were destroyed during the so-called “Oka Crisis” in 1990, when Mohawk warriors in the community of Kanesatake took a stand against the Quebec police, the RCMP, and the Canadian Army to prevent ancestral land from being developed. Related protests also took place in Kahnawake First Nation.

“My active role is not just through the visual art that I create, and it’s not through the music that I write, and it’s not through the book that I’m writing right now — it’s by taking an active role,” Wilson said.

“Hopefully all of you feel inspired by what you’re learning through the Downie Wenjack people and hopefully will be able to stand up and take an active role in making this a better country, a better planet, a better community for all people to live in,” Wilson said.

“I don’t want to put it on you guys, but it’s actually your job, because my generation has failed miserably at trying to do this — but we’re working hard to try to make it better.”

Along with his art and his tree-planting project, Wilson told the students he has started the first Indigenous scholarship at Hamilton’s McMaster University for any Indigenous students in Ontario.

He also shared the story of his arrest for supporting “land defenders” from the Six Nations of the Grand River in Caledonia, before reading a passage from his best-selling memoir Beautiful Scars and performing an a capella version of his song “Grand River” from the latest Blackie and the Rodeo Kings record O Glory.

Wilson also answered a number of questions from the students about his music and his art, and was presented with a thank-you gift made by the students.

He then helped hand out “Every Child Matters” orange t-shirts to the students and autographed them.

Over our 30 years of operation, GreenUP has made an effort to measure and keep transparent the impact we are having in our community.

GreenUP educates and engages thousands of children and youth each year. We have planted hundreds of thousands of native plants throughout our DePave and neighborhood demonstration projects. We support hundreds homeowners and businesses to implement conservation strategies.

We know that our community impact is significant and, all the while, our potential impact continues to grow as climate action and climate change mitigation become a critical priority for our region.

However, in addition to thinking about our community impact, we are driven to ask ourselves how an organization like GreenUP begins to quantitatively measure our own impact on the environment.

One way is by looking directly at our own footprint.

You may be aware of the ‘carbon footprint’ standard of measuring an individual’s impact on the climate. Your carbon footprint is an approximate measurement of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases produced your regular activities.

In 2020, GreenUP partnered with the City of Peterborough, County of Peterborough, and Green Economy Canada to launch a local business hub called Green Economy Peterborough.

To measure our own carbon footprint, GreenUP has made the commitment to join the local business hub and investigate.

As a member of the hub, GreenUP conducted a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory to understand the carbon emissions that are created through activities that are part of our operations.

The scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions created through GreenUP’s operation were measured to be 1.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year.

As a result of completing this GHG inventory, we learned that GreenUP has many opportunities to reduce our emissions — through the electrification of our tools and vehicles, increasing our use of active modes for business travel, and by reducing our use of electricity through efficiency in our office.

In addition to looking at our footprint, GreenUP is also working to quantify how our programs are impacting the environment.

In 2020, GreenUP worked with Heather McDiarmid from McDiarmid Climate Consulting to evaluate the climate impact of our programs and develop tools to measure the impact of those programs on an ongoing basis.

One component of that climate impact evaluation tells us that “Between 2016 and 2020, GreenUP organized DePave events at five sites, replaced a total of 1,072 m2 (square metres) of pavement with plantings resulting in 1,505 m3 (cubic metres) of storm water diverted per year and 385 kg of reduced water pollution per year.”

Continuing to achieve such a measurable impact on stormwater diversion and reduced water pollution is something the GreenUP team is eager to continue.

In 2022, GreenUP supported five homeowners to complete the City of Peterborough’s Rain Garden Subsidy program. The program offers up to $1,000 to help with the cost of installing a rain garden. Gardens installed this year will divert an additional 272 cubic meters of rain from our storm water system.

Similarly, based on McDiarmid’s report, GreenUP knows that our impact on the next generation is quantifiable. The Grade 8 Transit Quest program saw students take a total of 4,424 trips with their bus passes.

Through this program, their parents saved an estimated 14,000 kilometres of driving and avoided the 2.9 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions that driving would have generated.

By taking measure with McDiarmid, we now know how to better quantify the impact of some community programs that GreenUP offers. This allows us to continue delivering our many wonderful programs while making changes that will amplify their climate impact.

As GreenUP celebrates our 30th year, we know it has never been more urgent to ensure our efforts are working.

Continuing to measure and track our environmental impact both as a member of GEP and by using internal tracking tools will help GreenUP understand where to improve and adapt our operations, and how to better mitigate our impact on the environment.

We look forward to celebrating our continued positive impact over the next three decades.

GreenUP is here to help you meet your climate action goals with two programs that may be of interest.

If you are part of an organization that is ready to take climate action, starting by measuring your impact, visit Green Economy Peterborough at greeneconomypeterborough.ca to learn more.

If you are a homeowner and want to learn how to reduce the emissions from your home, GreenUP also offers home energy assessments at greenup.on.ca/climate-action-at-home/ to help you to identify actions that can both reduce emissions and save money.

A Peterborough woman will be “tenting up” and spending the night outside on Saturday (December 10) — International Human Rights Day — to raise awareness about homelessness and to raise funds for local homelessness initiatives.

Wilhelmina Don-Venus, an employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry on Water Street, has also challenged her work colleagues to join the cause and sleep outside for one night this week.

In a media release, Don-Venus says she met a woman and her dog last year — who she calls “Jessica” and “Hailey” — who have been homeless for more than five years and “and will likely face another winter outside.”

“Her love and commitment to faithful companion Hailey has precluded her from many temporary and more permanent housing options and, although some local shelters provide accommodation, she had had several bad experiences and no longer feels safe,” Don-Venus says.

“While I can’t change the circumstances in Jessica’s life, I feel that it is very important for us all to do what we can every day, to have empathy and compassion for all of our neighbours. We are all born equal in dignity and human rights. And given that, taking a moment to share a kind word or offer encouragement to those who are struggling is meaningful and may be the one thing that keeps them going for another day.”

As well as raising awareness, Don-Venus is raising funds for the United Way Peterborough & District to support services that local charitable organizations provide to those who are facing another winter outside.

According to a motion presented by councillor Alex Bierk at Monday’s city council meeting, there were 326 unhoused people in the city and county of Peterborough as of October. Bierk’s motion for the city to provide $100,000 for an emergency winter response to homelessness was defeated.

“There is a network of agencies who work to provide outreach, cold weather survival gear, counselling and so many integral supports to our neighbours experiencing homelessness and I want to help by raising funds to be invested in these services,” Don-Venus says.

Using the tag line “Tent-Up to make homelessness #UNIGNORABLE,” Don-Venus’s goal is to raise $2,500 by December 13. The United Way Peterborough & District has set up a giving page at weblink.donorperfect.com/TentUp to help to help Don-Venus reach her goal and ensure donors can receive a charitable tax receipt for their donations of $20 or more.

“On behalf of my homeless friend and her dog, and all those who aren’t sheltered, thank you for caring,” Don-Venus says.