The annual Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign is taking place this spring for the first time, again raising funds for local charities and community groups including several in the greater Kawarthas region.

Usually held in the fall, this year’s campaign will run from Monday, May 1st to Sunday, May 7th.

In another change, the price of a smile cookie is increasing for the first time in the program’s history, going from $1 to $1.50 per cookie (or $18 for a dozen cookies). All proceeds (before taxes) will still go to local charities and organizations.

“This increase will allow even more money to be raised for charities and community groups across the country,” Tim Hortons states on its website.

Tim Hortons locations in the communities listed below will be supporting the following charities and community groups:

• City of Peterborough, Lakefield, Bridgenorth, and Curve Lake – Community Care Peterborough
• Bancroft – North Hastings District Hospital Auxiliary
• Haliburton and Minden – Walkabout Farm Therapeutic Riding Association
• Coboconk – Ridgewood Public School Breakfast Program
• Fenelon Falls – Fenelon Falls Secondary School Breakfast Program, Langton Public School Breakfast Program
• Bobcaygeon – Bobcaygeon Public School Breakfast Program, Dunsford Public School Breakfast Program
• Lindsay – Humane Society of Kawartha Lakes, Kawartha Lakes Food Source, The Dragon Flies Breast Cancer Survivor Group
• Port Hope – Million Dollar Smiles
• Cobourg and Colborne – Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Northumberland

The Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign began in 1996 as a way to help raise funds for the Hamilton Children’s Hospital in Ontario. It has since grown to become a major fundraising event at Tim Hortons restaurants, raising more than $75 million for local charities and community groups.

Last fall, the campaign raised a record-breaking $15 million for over 600 local charities and community groups, bringing the 27-year fundraising total to over $90 million.

The City of Peterborough is dismantling the Fred Anderson Stage at Del Crary Park and will install a new stage in time for Peterborough Musicfest’s 36th summer season, which opens on Canada Day with a concert by Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy.

Built in the 1980s, the Fred Anderson Stage — named after the late founder of the Peterborough Festival of Lights, which became Peterborough Musicfest — has hosted hundreds of musicians since the festival was Launched on July 1, 1987.

Last June, just days before Peterborough Musicfest was set to return to Del Crary Park after a two-year pandemic absence, the city inspected the Fred Anderson Stage and deemed it structurally unsafe, banning its use. A temporary stage was constructed at Del Crary Park so Musicfest could proceed with its 2022 season.

In the city’s 2023 capital budget, city council approved $200,000 for the purchase of a new stage.

According to a media release from the city, the new stage “will enhance the live entertainment experience at the park with features to meet modern production needs, including allowing for better lighting and sound systems.”

However, unlike the Fred Anderson Stage, the new stage will not be a fixed structure.

“The new stage will be mobile so that potentially it can also be set up at other locations for events,” the media release states.

A week after Haliburton Highlands Health Services announced the Minden emergency department would permanently close on June 1, members of the Minden community were at Queen’s Park in Toronto to deliver a petition to the Ontario government demanding a moratorium of the decision, while officials from Haliburton Highlands Health Services appeared before both the Township of Minden Hills and Haliburton County councils to explain the rationale behind the decision.

On Thursday (April 27), Minden residents Patrick Porzuczek, Laura Porzuczek, and Richard Bradley led a group that travelled to Queen’s Park with a petition — signed by 3,359 Minden-area residents — asking the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to place a moratorium on the Haliburton Highlands Health Services decision “for a minimum of one year to allow for consultations with all affected stakeholders to occur.”

NDP health critic France Gélinas (MPP Nickle Belt) brought the petition before the Legislature on Thursday afternoon and asked Ontario’s minister of health and long-term care Sylvia Jones during question period whether she would support the moratorium request.

“I know that the member opposite knows very well that hospitals are responsible for their day-to-day operations and make those decisions independent of the ministry of health and government,” Jones replied. “We have been assured that the Haliburton Highlands Health Science [sic] board and leadership have made this decision carefully, thoughtfully, understanding and appreciating the needs of their community and their staff, and I will let them do that work.”

Much of the criticism from the Minden community about the decision to close the emergency department revolves around a lack of communication and consultation with the community about the closure and the timing of the closure at the beginning of summer.

“Members of Minden’s community are determined to exhaust all possible options to reverse this hasty and poorly considered decision,” reads a media release issued by the Ontario NDP on Thursday. “There were a staggering 13,000 visits to the (Minden) emergency department in 2022, with the number trending upwards. The town’s population triples during summer due to seasonal residents and tourists. It’s incomprehensible that such a significant decision was made without consulting any stakeholders. This community will not rest until their voices are heard.”

VIDEO: Question Period – April 27, 2023 – Minden emergency department closure

Last Thursday (April 20), Haliburton Highlands Health Services announced the Minden emergency department would be closed effective Friday, June 1st, with all staff to be transferred to the emergency department in Haliburton, shocking Minden-area politicians and residents.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services currently operates two emergency departments that are open 24/7, one at 4575 Deep Bay Road in Minden and the other at 7199 Gelert Road in Haliburton, both with on-site heliports. Unlike the Haliburton location, which has 15 in-patient beds, the Minden location does not offer in-patient acute care services.

Most Minden patients requiring hospitalization are transferred to Haliburton or to hospitals in Lindsay or Bracebridge. With the closure of the Minden emergency department, local residents would need to travel 25 kilometres northeast to Haliburton — a 25-minute drive — for emergency medical services.

According to a statement from Haliburton Highlands Health Services president and CEO Carolyn Plummer and board chair David O’Brien, the decision to close the Minden emergency department was made in response to an ongoing shortage of nursing and medical staff.

Both Plummer and O’Brien attended a meeting of the Township of Minden Hills council on Thursday afternoon to give a presentation about the decision and to answer questions from Minden Hills mayor Bob Carter on behalf of members of the community.

“Let me state the reason why this decision was made, and it was made because of the ongoing staffing shortages,” O’Brien said. “It’s taken an extraordinary amount of effort over the last 18 months to keep the team together, to keep it focused, to keep it delivering the services we need. Our staff have made incredible personal and professional sacrifices in order to make that happen.”

“It got to the point that we can’t continue to do that. We’re going to lose people, more than we already lost. We’re going to lose our hospital if we continue to do this — I’m not talking about closing Minden emergency, I’m talking about the broader Haliburton (Haliburton Highlands Health Services) hospital.”

“That was the focus of making this decision,” O’Brien said. “The staff that we have are under extreme pressure. They came to us and said ‘Look, you’ve got to do something because we can’t keep going on like this. The system’s going to fail if we let it go on.’ So that’s kind of the crux of why the decision was made. There are a lot of other things that go into it, but that’s the real important part of the decision.”

For her part, Plummer said she has “spoken about our staffing crisis in every public board meeting for the past couple of years and I have spoken about it with the mayors when we’ve met with them,” adding that there were more than “20 official close calls” in 2022 and “many other close calls that were not made official” where either one or both of the Haliburton and Minden emergency departments would have to close temporarily.

Plummer said the decision to consolidate emergency services at the Haliburton location was made because, unlike the Minden location, Haliburton already has in-patient acute care beds.

“We considered feedback received from the paramedic services, who highlighted the fact that the Haliburton site is more centralized in the county for ambulance travel times,” Plummer said. “We also looked at the fact that maintaining hospital services close to the Haliburton family medical centre has many benefits, primarily facilitating easy access to primary care physicians to see patients in both the emergency department and the in-patient unit.”

In their presentation, neither Plummer nor O’Brien addressed the criticisms levelled against Haliburton Highlands Health Services for the lack of communication and community consultation prior to announcing the decision or for the timing of the closure.

After the presentation, Carter raised the concern about a lack of communication, noting that previous discussions with Haliburton Highlands Health Services were only about staffing issues and the possibility of temporary closures of one or both emergency departments.

“At no point was there a discussion that one of these facilities would have to close permanently,” Carter said, adding he confirmed this by speaking with the other three mayors and four deputy mayors in the county. “Now in your mind that was perhaps the inevitability of what you were talking about, but there was no clear communication about that … This came as a complete shock to all of us.”

Carter then asked Plummer and O’Brien a question on behalf of the community about the key issues that led to the decision to permanently close the Minden emergency department.

Plummer reiterated that the primary reason is the lack of staff resources to maintain two emergency departments and the pressures on existing staff.

“I can tell you that, heading into this summer, we would be otherwise facing multiple short-term, short-notice, unexpected closures of one if not both of our emergency departments at various unpredictable times, and it would be impossible to communicate properly to all the stakeholders and community members about those closures in sufficient time for them to know where to go in the event of an emergency,” Plummer said.

“We wanted to make sure that we could maintain emergency services in this county, and so we made the decision to consolidate them at a single site where we can bring our staff together to provide a more effective staffing coverage model to meet all the health care emergency needs of the county as a whole.”

Carter then asked why only six weeks’ notice was given of the closure, especially given the lack of prior communication to stakeholders and the upcoming summer season.

“It really was an operational decision that had to be made,” Plummer replied. “We had grave concerns as I said about the multiple, temporary, unpredictable closures that would have happened otherwise, and the significant risk that would place on the community in unpredictable ways as we would not be able to properly communication sufficiently ahead of those closures — some of those closures could happen with only two hours’ notice.”

“That’s how close we’ve come, and that was going to be a reality for this summer,” Plummer added. “We were able to make it through last summer, but just barely, and it was not going to be feasible for us to do that this summer.”

“This was a very, very difficult decision, and we know it’s been particularly difficult for the Minden community, but it was one we had to make in order to make sure that we still have (emergency) health services across the county as a whole and into the summer time.”

In response to another question from Carter, Plummer and O’Brien said the decision was made by the Haliburton Highlands Health Services board, supported by the hospital’s executive leadership team. The decision was communicated to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, which was already aware of the staffing issues facing Haliburton Highlands Health Services.

After noting the “outpouring of concern from our community,” Carter asked if the June 1st date to close the Minden emergency department could “be pushed back to some reasonable time — November 1st, or later — so we could have a reasonable discussion, including all the stakeholders, and we can properly plan the implementation.”

“This would get us through the busy summer period and allow a transparent public process,” Carter added. “The question is, are you willing to agree, consider, or commit to pushing back this date?”

Plummer did not directly answer the question, but repeated that the decision was an operational one, to avoid “multiple temporary but short-notice closures (of) one or likely both emergency departments, all summer long,” and that it would be extremely difficult to properly notify the community of the closures, resulting in “much confusion, and that would have been unsafe for the community as a whole.”

Carter asked what would happen, with the Minden emergency department closed, if the Haliburton emergency department has to temporarily close.

“This gives us the opportunity to shift all of our resources into one location, to help reduce the risk of that kind of closure happening,” Plummer replied. “The risk is always there, but this reduces that risk.”

Carter pointed out the decision to close the Minden emergency department in six weeks would have an unplanned impact on other emergency services in Minden, including paramedics and volunteer firefighters, who would be responding to medical calls, with an impact on cost — especially at the busiest time of year during the summer.

Deputy mayor Lisa Schell asked Plummer to confirm which location almost closed 20 times due to staffing issues, adding “keep in mind I know the answer. I would just like to hear your honest answer to everybody in this community, because most of us know what it is.”

“Those were all related to physician shortages at our Haliburton site,” Plummer replied. “Our Minden site is also now facing physician shortages. Both sites are facing physician shortages. What isn’t included in that 20-plus official notifications is the countless times that we’ve had nursing sick calls … it could be Haliburton, it could be Minden, it could be both. Depending on the situation, both emergency departments could be closed. We have faced that near possibility many, many times in the last 18 months — far more than 20. It happens probably weekly, maybe more often than that, but it happens regularly with our nursing sick calls and shortages of nursing staff.”

Schell then asked Plummer to name the stakeholders that Haliburton Highlands Health Services consulted with about the decision to close the Minden emergency department.

Plummer replied that the operational decision was made by the board, supported by the executive leadership team, “but informed by conversations with staff.” She added that the board has done “reach-outs with regard to our strategic plan” that involved anonymous surveys, interviews, and focus groups. (On Friday, in an interview on CBC Radio’s Ontario Morning, when host Ramraajh Sharvendiran asked if Haliburton Highlands Health Services consulted about a permanent closure, Plummer said “We did not ask about that specific question.”)

Later on Thursday afternoon, Plummer and O’Brien attended a special meeting of Haliburton County council to explain the rationale for the decision to close the Minden emergency department. While that meeting was closed to the public, council issued a statement the following day.

“Council remains extremely concerned and dissatisfied in their decision and the timing associated with the closure,” the statement reads. “We also continue to be disappointed in the absence of communication between county council, the community and (Haliburton Highlands Health Services) over the last number of months while this step was being considered.”

“We will continue to advocate on behalf of our residents to ensure that (Haliburton Highlands Health Services) responds to questions about reorganization and ongoing service delivery in the county, including identifying and attracting services to work out of the Minden site. To that end council will be requesting that (Haliburton Highlands Health Services) present their implementation plan to combine emergency services at a special meeting in May.”

While Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott has not issued an official statement about the decision to close the Minden emergency department, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale addressed the issue in Parliament on Thursday evening during a debate on the second reading of Bill C-47, the Budget Implementation Act.

“Let me be clear, the decision made by the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Board of Directors is something I oppose,” Schmale wrote on Facebook. “We have been told that this decision, which I have no doubt was very difficult to make, was not based on financial considerations but was solely due to inadequate staffing levels.”

“As someone who grew up in Bobcaygeon and has used the Minden ER more than once, I join with residents and echo concern for their community hospital. While the decision was a local one, I recognize that the federal government has a role to play in facilitating the immigration of qualified nurses and doctors to address labour shortages not just in Minden but throughout the country.”

A Facebook group called Save Minden Ontario Emergency Room now has over 3,900 members. A online petition called Help Save the Minden Hills Emergency Department has far received more than 5,800 signatures.

Minden resident and former Minden firefighter Patrick Porzuczek, who was at Queen’s Park on Thursday and also established the Facebook group and online petition, has also created a GoFundMe campaign that has raised over $4,600 to help fund community efforts to stop the closure.

Minden residents have also set up a new website called Minden Matters at mindenmatters.com.

Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for the greater Kawarthas region for Sunday (April 30), with Otonabee Conservation also issuing a flood watch for the Trent-Severn Waterway.

The rainfall warning is in effect for Peterborough County, City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, Haliburton County, and Hastings County.

Periods of rain will persist intermittently Saturday evening before tapering to a chance of showers overnight. Heavier rain is expected to move in Sunday afternoon and by Monday morning, with additional rainfall amounts of 40 to 50 mm expected.

Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. Watch for possible washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts.

Multi-day rainfall totals of 50 to 70 mm could worsen the situation for sensitive areas.

Otonabee Conservation has issued a flood watch for the headwaters of the Kawartha Lakes (Haliburton/Reservoir Lakes region) and the area of the Trent-Severn Waterway under its jurisdiction.

Water levels in the Haliburton/Reservoir Lakes and the Kawartha Lakes are approaching their respective full levels due to the past several weeks of sustained snow melt, ice melt, and rainfall runoff.

The forecasted rainfall will generate saturated ground conditions resulting in direct surface runoff into low-lying areas, wetlands, ditches, and all local watercourses. Swelling rivers, streams, and creeks may result in flooding.

Otonabee Conservation is advising residents and businesses located in flood-prone areas to be vigilant. Otonabee Conservation is also advising residents and visitors to be extremely cautious if travelling on area lakes and rivers.

The origianl version of this story ahs been updated with the rainfall warning from Environment Canada.

Prominent female Afghan activist Selay Ghaffar will be the guest speaker at the 13th annual Red Pashmina Walk on Sunday (April 30), which begins at 1:30 p.m. at Emmanuel United Church in Peterborough.

The Red Pashmina Walk is hosted by the Peterborough chapter of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and Red Pashmina Inc., which was founded as the Red Pashmima Campaign in 2009 by Afghan Canadian and former Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef (then a Trent University student in Peterborough) and her friend and fellow Trent University graduate Jessica Melnik.

Both organizations raise money for literacy and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, and funds raised from the walk will support online education materials and courses as well as humanitarian baskets which include food, hygiene products and learning materials.

Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. at Emmanuel United Church (534 George Street North, at the corner of George and McDonnell Streets), followed by a welcome by Maryam Monsef and a talk by Selay Ghaffar at 2 p.m.

Born in 1983 to a progressive family in Afghanistan, Ghaffar spent her entire childhood at refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. When she was only 13, she set up home-based classes for young girls in refugee camps and soon became the public face for Afghan refugees. During the Taliban’s first rise to power in Afghanistan, she rose to prominence in the country’s civil society as a critical voice for women’s rights.

In 2015, she joined the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan and became its spokesperson. Her televised interviews and debates with other politicians were watched by millions in Afghanistan. Despite receiving death threats from the Taliban and Jehadi warlords, she continued fighting the religious extremists. Fearing for her life, Ghaffar fled Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power again in 2021. She is portrayed in Bernedetta Argentieri’s 2018 documentary I am the Revolution.

VIDEO: “I Am The Revolution” trailer

Everyone is welcome to attend to hear Ghaffar speak. Following her talk, the Red Pashmina Walk will depart the church at 3 p.m. and continue around East City, with a shorter walk for those who prefer it, returning to the church where cookies and lemonade will be waiting for walkers. Red pashminas, natural stone earrings, and other items will also be available for purchase for $20.

For more information about Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and the Red Pashmina Walk, including how to register for the walk and how to donate, visit cw4wafghan.ca/event/peterborough-red-pashmina-walk/.

For more information about Red Pashmina Inc. and to donate, visit redpashmina.org.

The Rotary Club of Peterborough and Cleantech Commons announced the winners of the inaugural Rotary Environmental Innovators Award at an event on Thursday evening (April 27) at Camp Kawartha in Douro-Dummer, with almost $10,000 in funding awarded to five finalists.

Funding from the awards comes from the Rotary Environmentalist Innovators Fund (REIF), launched last fall by the Rotary Club of Peterborough with a goal to promote environmental awareness, sustainability, and remediation by supporting new environmental initiatives in the Peterborough area. The initiative raised $10,000 through corporate and individual donors known as “environmental champions.”

A panel of environmental science and technology experts selected five finalists from a pool of applications, with the top three receiving a prize of $3,000 each and the other two receiving $300 each.

“The response to our call for environmental champions has been phenomenal,” says Rotarian Graham Wilkins, who is leading the REIF initiative, in a media release. “The high-calibre applications we received are a testament to the environmental leadership and collaboration within our community. We look forward to bolstering our support for initiatives to address society’s most pressing environmental challenges in new, innovative ways.”

The following three environmental innovators have each been awarded $3,000:

Carlotta James, Monarch Ultra

Co-founded by Peterborough pollinator advocate and ultra-runner Carlotta James, the Monarch Ultra raises awareness about the decline of monarch butterfly populations through its long-distance running events, social media channels, the media, and partnerships with schools, non-profits, and municipalities.

In 2023, Monarch Ultra is planning Peterborough’s first-ever Monarch Butterfly Festival and Race to bolster monarch butterfly conservation efforts. The organization is also planning festivals and races in the U.S. and Mexico.

Craig Onafrychuk, Baxter Creek Watershed Alliance

A collaborative community initiative, the Baxter Creek Watershed Alliance is dedicated to conserving and enhancing the local watershed.

The alliance is working with community stakeholders and government to monitor ecological systems in the Baxter Creek watershed, educate the broader community, and implement innovative conservation initiatives to protect the natural heritage through landowner stewardship plans and conservation agreements.

Dylan Radcliffe

A Peterborough naturalist, environmental activist, and scientist, Dylan Radcliffe has created a drone for large-scale environmental restoration projects. The drone broadcasts high-value tree and tallgrass seed with precision over large areas to help restore essential ecosystems.

The drone operates autonomously with limited operator intervention and can be constructed with tools commonly available in school or library makerspaces. The intention is to release the project as an open-source design, which is a relatively new concept in the environmental sector.

The following two environmental innovators have each been awarded $300:

Zachary McCue, REPWR

REPWR designs and builds renewable energy systems for the intermodal shipping network, which provide clean power for the shipping industry and lower greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact.

Christa Plumley, Ava&Ziva

As a sustainable clothing brand, Ava&Ziva strives to reduce the environmental impact of the clothing industry by using deadstock fabric for its high-quality, small-batch garments.

“Helping start-ups and entrepreneurs bring their innovative green technologies to the market is at the heart of Cleantech Commons,” says Martin Yuill, executive director of Cleantech Commons at Trent University, which partnered with the Rotary Club of Peterborough earlier this year in support of REIF. “Initiatives such as REIF are the launchpad for many high-impact advances that will move society forward while protecting the environment.”

In addition to receiving the Rotary Environmental Innovators Award, each recipient has been pre-approved by Community Futures Peterborough for micro-loans of up to $20,000 so they can continue to develop and grow their environmental solutions.

Rotary Club of Peterborough and Cleantech Commons have additional plans for REIF in the coming months, including additional fundraising efforts, networking, mentorship opportunities for applicants, and the introduction of a youth award.

Dr. Leo Groarke has announced he will conclude his tenure as president and vice-chancellor of Trent University at the end of June 2024, but he will continue researching and teaching at Trent as a professor.

“President Groarke, through careful, critical, and compassionate leadership, has helped Trent University flourish as an academic institution, here in our local communities in Peterborough and Durham GTA, as well as globally,” says Debra Cooper Burger, chair of Trent University’s board of governors, in a media release. “We are confident in the future of Trent, due in large part to President Groarke’s work ensuring a strong and healthy position for our university.”

Dr. Groarke was installed as the university’s eighth president and vice-chancellor of Trent University in 2014 and was reappointed for a second term in 2019.

Under Groarke’s leadership, Trent University has seen year-over-year undergraduate and graduate enrolment growth.

Among many other achievements, he spearheaded the launch of four schools of study at Trent, including the study of Canada, environment, business, and Indigenous studies. More than 20 undergraduate and 13 new graduate programs have also launched during his tenure, including conservation biology, social work, data science, logistics and supply chain management, the medical professional stream, and child and youth studies, as well as Master of instrumental chemical analysis, Master of nursing, Master of management, and Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Social Research.

“I have been very fortunate to work with a strong executive team, supportive boards of governors, and positive labour and student unions,” Dr. Groarke says. “Together it has allowed Trent to evolve in ways that are good for our students, our researchers, and our communities. I am inspired when I see the hustle and bustle on our two expanding campuses, note the growth of the reputation of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni, and witness the breadth of our community engagements. There is always more that can be accomplished and I hope to contribute more in the year to come, and then as a professor when I pass the torch on to a new president on June 30, 2024.”

Prior to joining Trent University, Dr. Groarke served as vice-president, academic, and provost at University of Windsor, and as principal and vice-president of the Brantford Campus of Wilfrid Laurier University. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, studied at the University of Helsinki and Simon Fraser University, and received his B.A. Honours and M.A. in philosophy from the University of Calgary.

Celebrations to honour Groarke at the end of his term in June 2024 will be planned and announced at a later date, and the university’s board of governors will share details on the search for Trent’s ninth president and vice-chancellor as they are developed.