Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared a Peterborough police officer of any wrongdoing in connection with a stand-off at a car dealership in August that ended in the death of a 28-year-old man.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) — an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault, or discharge of a firearm at a person — issued its report into the incident on Friday (December 8).

The SIU interviewed the police officer who was the subject of the investigation, six civilian witnesses, and five witness officials, including a fellow police officer who arrived at the scene. The SIU also reviewed memo books from witness officials, evidence at the scene, and photographic, audio, and video evidence, including in-car camera footage from the subject officer’s cruiser.

According to the SIU report, at 2:15 p.m. on August 11, 2023, a police officer was travelling in his cruiser in the area of Park Street North and Parkhill Road West when he was forced to quickly react as a Jeep Cherokee abruptly reversed out of a driveway.

The officer decided to stop the Jeep for a traffic infraction and, when the vehicle failed to stop, he began a pursuit. The officer chased the Jeep, which ran a red light before eventually making its way onto northbound Chemong Road. The officer followed for a period, but then discontinued pursuit in the area of Bellevue Street.

The 28-year-old man driving the Jeep, who was later determined to be suffering from mental illness and having an acute episode at the time of the incident, lost control of the Jeep at Chemong Road and Towerhill Road and crashed into a pole at the northwest corner of the intersection. He emerged from the vehicle holding a firearm and held up a taxi at gunpoint before making his way in the service garage of the nearby Peterborough Volkswagen dealership.

Frustrated when he was unable to obtain keys for one of the vehicles under repair, the man struck an employee of the dealership in the back of the head with the gun and was holding the employee at gunpoint by the southwest corner of the garage when the police officer arrived in his cruiser.

On hearing broadcasts of 911 calls reporting a motorist emerging with a gun from a crashed vehicle, the officer had made his way to Chemong Road and Towerline Road where he was directed by civilians to the dealership.

The officer drove his cruiser a short distance into the garage through the west bay door, exited, and confronted the man at gunpoint. The time was 2:18 p.m. The officer ordered the man to drop the gun he was holding to the head of the employee. Although the man released the employee, who fled from the garage, he refused to drop the gun. Instead, he turned the gun on himself, pointing it under his own chin, and repeatedly asked the officer to shoot him.

The officer replied that he was not going to shoot the man, but wanted him to drop the gun so they could talk. As the stand-off continued over the next several minutes, the man sprayed and poured the contents of various automotive fluids from containers on nearby benches before drinking from them. It was later determined the man had ingested antifreeze, engine coolant, and motor oil.

At this point, a second officer armed with a C8 rifle had arrived at the scene and, along with the first officer, implored the man to drop the gun and refrain from drinking from the containers.

At around 2:24 p.m., not more than six minutes from when the first officer had arrived on scene, the man collapsed and dropped his firearm. Officers moved in, secured the weapon, and handcuffed the man. Realizing that he was in medical distress and having seizures, they rolled the man into the recovery position, removed the handcuffs, and administered CPR until the arrival of firefighters and paramedics.

The man was transported to Peterborough Regional Health Centre and pronounced dead at 3:32 p.m. The pathologist who later conducted an autopsy on the man was unable to arrive at a preliminary cause of death.

“On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the SO (subject officer) committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s death,” writes SIU director Joseph Martino in the report. “The question is whether there was any want of care on the part of the SO, sufficiently serious to attract criminal sanction, that endangered the Complainant’s life or contributed to his death. In my view, there was not.”

“The SO was lawfully placed when he confronted the Complainant in the dealership garage,” Martino continues. “He had cause to believe that the Complainant had fled from the site of a crash into the dealership armed with a gun, and he was duty-bound to attend the scene to ensure public safety. Once in the garage, and seeing him holding (the employee) at gunpoint, the officer also had grounds to arrest the Complainant for a variety of offences.”

Martino adds the officer showed “due care and regard for public safety” during the incident, including concern for the man’s safety.

“From a distance of several metres, behind the front driver side of his cruiser, the SO did what he could to de-escalate the situation. Though the Complainant was in possession of a gun, which he could have discharged at the officer at any moment, the SO held his fire and tried to talk him down.”

Martino says the officer could not have withdrawn from the scene, as the man “had already shown a propensity for violence” and the officer could not be sure other people in the vicinity would not be endangered.

“Similarly, the use of a conducted energy weapon or pepper spray were not reasonable options for a variety of reasons, including the SO’s distance from the Complainant and the location of a vehicle between them, the presence of flammable materials in the area, and the officer’s vulnerability to return gunfire in the event those weapons did not work.”

Martino adds that, once the man had collapsed, officers moved in quickly to render emergency first-aid.

“There are no reasonable grounds to conclude that the SO conducted himself other than within the limits of the criminal law in his dealings with the Complainant, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case,” Martino concludes. “The file is closed.”

Two people in their 70s and their family pet died following a two-vehicle collision in Warkworth early Friday afternoon (December 8).

At around 1:20 p.m. on Friday, the Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Northumberland Paramedics, and the Trent Hills Fire Department responded to a report of a collision between a pickup truck and a car on Dominion Road in Warkworth.

The occupants in the car included two people from Hastings, aged 76 and 70, along with a family pet. The 76-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The 70-year-old was transported to a local hospital, where they were later pronounced dead. The family pet succumbed to its injuries. Police have not released any other information about the victims.

The driver of the pickup truck, a 33-year-old from Carrying Place, suffered minor injuries in the collision.

Dominion Road between Mill Street and Old Hastings Road was closed for several hours while police investigated and documented the scene.

Police are continuing to investigate the fatal collision. Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or their local police. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca.

Five Counties Children’s Centre has received almost $400,000 in capital funding for its Northumberland Backyard Project from the Ontario government and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

In partnership with the County of Northumberland, Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre, YMCA Northumberland, and the local EarlyON Child and Family Centre, Five Counties Children’s Centre plans to transform the backyard area at the centre’s location at 800 Division Street in Cobourg into a safe and fully accessible outdoor area that provides more space and options for treatment, recreation, cultural awareness, and outdoor education programs.

With the initial grading, drainage, landscaping, and fencing done this summer and fall, the capital grants will support the project’s completion in 2024. Once completed, the backyard will include an accessible playground, sensory play equipment, garden area, gazebo, stage, and a track for wheelchairs, bikes, and other mobility devices.

“We are extremely grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services for investing in our backyard, our kids, and our community,” says Scott Pepin, CEO of Five Counties Children’s Centre, in a media release. “The capital funding will not only transform our backyard but will help transform lives. Our field of dreams is almost a reality, and the end result will be a fully accessible, culturally responsive, nature-based play space that boosts outdoor treatment sessions, reduces wait lists, and helps children and families enjoy accessible play.”

Five Counties Children’s Centre provides speech, physio, and occupational therapies, as well as other treatment services, for children and youth up to the age of 19 in the counties of Northumberland, Peterborough, and Haliburton and the City Kawartha Lakes. This past year, the non-profit organization served more than 6,200 children and youth in its region, with one quarter of them in Northumberland County.

The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services is providing $255,100 to revamp and expand the parking lot at Five Counties to accommodate more families accessing services at the centre and the neighbouring EarlyON site. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is providing $141,000 for the building of the accessible track and other play features.

The City of Kawartha Lakes honoured stewards of community heritage with the Osprey Heritage Awards at City Hall in Lindsay on Thursday (December 7).

Author Sara Walker-Howe, the Manvers Township Historical Society, Paulette Sopoci of Primrose Hill Manor, and Boyd Heritage Museum were all recipients of the awards that celebrate outstanding projects and contributions promoting and preserving community heritage within Kawartha Lakes.

Returning for the first time since before the pandemic, the 2023 Osprey Heritage Awards acknowledged community heritage projects and contributions from 2019 to 2023. The awards include three categories — publication and research, community heritage, and heritage restoration or adaptive reuse — with the city’s municipal heritage committee introducing an inaugural 25-year heritage award this year.

Sara Walker-Howe received the Publication and Research Award for her non-fiction book Historic Citizens of Kawartha Lakes which features 20 unique stories of local women, including the first woman from Kawartha Lakes to become a doctor or the first woman doctor to establish a practice in Lindsay, a woman from Verulam Township who became a spy and ran a trading post in Siberia during the Russian Revolution, and a woman who parachuted out of hot air balloons only to be shot in the back, carrying the bullet next to her lungs until the day she died.

The Manvers Township Historical Society received the Community Heritage Award for 40 years of work honouring the heritage of the former township of Manvers, including opening a research centre at the old post office in Bethany, registering the organization’s buildings as heritage sites, creating a website and Facebook page, expanding display opportunities to the library space in Bethany, and hosting community outreach events including a project to honour local veterans with banners in three villages in the former township.

Paulette Sopoci received the Heritage Restoration/Adaptive Reuse Award for an extensive renovation of Primrose Hill Manor in Janetville, which was built in 1880 and is known locally as the Doctor’s House. Renovations over the past two-and-a-half years included new electrical wiring, a new plumbing stack and hot water tank, a new furnace and two air conditioners, new bathrooms, and an updated kitchen. Sopoci also hired skilled tradesmen to restore the walls and ceilings in each room, with special attention given to the grand hallway and double parlour. Medallions, corbels, and crown mouldings were respected to maintain the heritage look of the home.

Bobcaygeon’s Boyd Heritage Museum received the inaugural Heritage Milestone Award, which acknowledges the dedication of heritage organizations in Kawartha Lakes in 25-year increments. Built in 1889, the building that now houses the Boyd Heritage Museum was home to The Boyd Lumber Co., The Trent Valley Navigation Co., and a private school for the Boyd children. Boyd Heritage Museum has been collecting and preserving artifacts and records about Mossom Boyd, a pioneer who arrived in Upper Canada in 1833 when he was 19 years old and subsequently became the “Lumber King of the Trent Valley,” his businesses, two generations of his family, and the Village of Bobcaygeon and surrounding areas.

The Osprey Heritage Awards will return in 2025, with the awards now following a bi-annual schedule that alternates with the Doors Open initiative of the Ontario Heritage Trust.

With the purchase of a former retirement residence in Cobourg slated to be finalized on Friday (December 8), Northumberland County and Transition House are hoping to make some headway to address the pressing need for housing and shelter services.

Northumberland County announced this week it’s in the midst of buying a 47-bedroom complex at 310 Division Street, the former location of Cobourg Retirement Residence. The county is partnering with Transition House on the new facility, which is intended “to modernize shelter services,” in addition to providing a roof overhead for more people living unsheltered.

County council reviewed a staff report during a special council meeting on Wednesday (December 6) regarding the final arrangements on the purchase. Staff, county councillors, service providers, residents, and business owners spoke in support of, and against, the new facility.

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

“With homelessness a rising concern across Canada, 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. The county is looking at all possibilities, all real estate ventures, to increase options across the entire housing spectrum.”

If all goes as planned, the county said it aims to have the new building open by the spring of 2024.

Operators of the former Cobourg Retirement Residence announced earlier this year that the facility would be closing its doors. The vacant property came to the attention of county staff in early November, who brought a report to a November 15th closed session of county council. In the report, staff proposed purchasing the property on behalf of Transition House and entering into a mortgage agreement with Transition House.

In accordance with Municipal Act provisions for closed sessions, the purchase of the facility was completed with approval from county council through a confidential report so as not to interfere with commercial negotiations, the county noted.

The goal is to relocate shelter operations to the new facility and close the current location at 10 Chapel Street, which is around the corner from the proposed new location.

Hillary Allen and Jeff Crowley of Cobourg Orthopaedic & Sports Injury Clinic, located at 304 Division St., made a presentation during the December 6th meeting.

“For 17 years we have lived and worked within 100 metres of both the current and proposed new site,” Allen said.

“We are business owners and employers of 18 health-care practitioners, 95 per cent of which are taxpayers in Northumberland County. We are property owners. We have lovingly restored 304 Division Street, sitting directly south (of) 310.”

Allen noted they also recently renovated a building at 301 Division Street, with the goal of maintaining and having a positive impact on downtown Cobourg. They have lived downtown and are actively involved in the community, she added.

As health-care professionals, Allen said they have compassion and understanding for people who are homeless and in need of assistance both locally and “across our entire country.”

“It is also why we have remained largely quiet, up until now,” Crowley added. “We are genuinely concerned about the state of chaos that has become commonplace in our neighbourhood and extending into downtown over the last four years.”

He said when Transition House changed its model of care four years ago to serve as a low-barrier emergency shelter, it “drastically” and “negatively” impacted the neighbourhood. Vandalism, theft, drug use, trespassing, intimidation, and public urination and defecation are among the challenges, Crowley noted.

Allen said they don’t blame Transition House residents for all the “disorderly behaviour” but said “it attracts associates that engage in this behaviour.”

Ultimately, relocating and enlarging Northumberland’s emergency shelter, “without question imposes significant negative consequences,” she stated.

Transition House is Northumberland’s only emergency shelter for adults experiencing homelessness. The current shelter has four rooms, each equipped with bunk beds, and can accommodate a maximum of 22 people. Staff can further accommodate up to seven people through arrangements with local motels, as an overflow measure.

In the new building, about 35 emergency shelter spaces will address immediate need and, over the longer-term, transitional housing accommodations and other services will create “pathways out of homelessness,” the county noted.

“There are many circumstances that can push people into crisis without a place to call home,” said Reverend Neil Ellis, board chair for Transition House. “We know that housing is essential to a person’s inherent dignity and well-being, and to building sustainable and inclusive communities.”

“As winter takes hold, this hub will create more options for people to come in out of the cold. Transition House looks forward to welcoming them to this safe, warm space.”

The county and Transition House will be hosting community information and engagement sessions for residents in the coming weeks.

For more information about 310 Division St. and to subscribe for updates, visit Northumberland County’s website.

The 23rd annual ‘Loonies on the Street’ fundraiser for Kawartha Food Share returns from 7 to 10 a.m. on Friday, December 15th, just outside of Peterborough Square at the corner of George and Simcoe Streets in downtown Peterborough.

Over the past 22 years, the event has brought in more than $2 million in monetary donations for Kawartha Food Share, allowing the organization to purchase food items for more than 12,000 people in need every month in the Peterborough area.

As FREQ 90.5 and OLDIES 96.7 broadcasts the event live, a “bucket brigade” of volunteers will be collecting loonies and toonies up and down George Street, with volunteers from the Peterborough Lions Club doing the same on the Hunter Street Bridge.

Last year’s Loonies on the Street collected over $160,000 in donations for Kawartha Food Share.

The fundraising goal for this year’s event is $100,000 and, thanks to donations that have already been made, Kawartha Food Share is almost three-quarters of the way to that goal.

Online donations can be made now at canadahelps.org/en/pages/3-loonies-on-the-street/.

Kawartha Food Share is a central collection and distribution warehouse that partners with 37 member agency food banks, food cupboards, and other food action programs in the City and County of Peterborough.

More than 35 per cent of the 12,000 people Kawartha Food Share feeds every month are children, with the non-profit organization also providing nutritious snacks for 51 area school breakfast programs helping over 17,000 children get a healthy start to their school day.

Kawartha Food Share also provides outreach to those living with food insecurity by partnering with community meal programs, including those provided by Brock Mission, One Roof, Salvation Army Peterborough, and more.

For the past three Christmases, the Deans and their three children have spent the day in their Northumberland bakery, dishing out and packaging turkey dinners with all the fixings.

The Brighton business owners prepare and offer free meals to anyone in the community in need. No questions asked.

Mel and Jeremy Dean of Just Like Granny’s were inspired to take on dinner for a couple of hundred community members during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They knew people wouldn’t or couldn’t gather with their families and they didn’t want them to be alone and without a holiday meal. Ontario implemented a province-wide lockdown on December 26, 2020, which closed most non-essential businesses and highly discouraged Ontarians from interacting with people outside of their immediate households.

While COVID-19 isn’t a factor to the same extent as it was, serving free Christmas dinners is a tradition the Deans will continue.

“We are, in fact, doing it again,” Mel Dean said.

“We are expecting about 200 — that’s our usual number. We did go a bit over that number last year due to the blizzard and people with lack of power (during the major snowstorm over Christmas in 2022). We’re not totally sure how many this year yet.”

“We know that the food bank is up in their numbers so we may have more,” she added.

Ontario is experiencing record-breaking increases in food bank use, according to Feed Ontario’s Hunger Report 2023: Why Ontarians Can’t Get Ahead. The report provides an analysis of data gathered by the Ontario food bank network between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023.

The document explores the reasons for food bank use, presents food bank use data from the past year, and discusses how food banks “are on the brink of not being able to meet the need in their community.”

“Food bank use remains at an all-time high with this year marking the seventh consecutive year of food bank use increases,” the report’s summary on the Feed Ontario website states.

Ontario’s food banks were visited 5,888,685 times throughout the year, an increase of 36 per cent over 2022 and 101 per cent over pre-pandemic levels.

The Brighton Fare Share Food Bank is seeing a similar trend. Food bank manager Pat Artkin said before the pandemic, there were 65 clients per month accessing the food bank. In November of this year, there were 104.

“We have 130 households registered in Brighton,” Artkin said. “We have seen a significant increase in food bank usage over last year. We are meeting new families each week who need our support. They are struggling with daily financial needs and food insecurity.”

Donations from Brighton residents continue to be generous and are welcomed, she noted. Both grocery stores in town and The Bargain Shop on Prince Edward Street have a list of wish items for the food bank, and any financial donations help the Elizabeth Street food bank purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, and other perishable items.

Like in Brighton, the Ontario report notes inadequate employment and income earning opportunities are making it difficult for people to get ahead.

More than one in six food bank visitors cited employment as their primary source of income, an 82 per cent increase over 2016-17 and a 37 per cent increase over the previous year. People working a contract or seasonal position are four times more likely to rely on a food bank and those working part-time jobs are three times more likely, the summary noted.

Social assistance remains the primary source of income for most food bank visitors. The number of people relying on the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works has increased 17 per cent over the previous year, the website stated.

“High housing and living costs make it difficult for Ontarians to afford other essential expenses.”

Back at Just Like Granny’s, the Deans save every donation dropped in their tip jar at the bakery and put it towards the cost of offering Christmas dinner and the other community endeavours they pursue throughout the year.

“We never keep tips for ourselves,” Dean said. “If people feel the need to help, we do accept donations. People have dropped off in the past frozen turkeys, potatoes, and gift cards to the local grocery stores to help us with the ingredients.”

People wishing to donate can stop by the bakery at 40 Prince Edward St. or reach out to the Deans through Just Like Granny’s Facebook page. To learn more about food bank usage in Ontario, visit feedontario.ca.