100 Women Peterborough has chosen the Ennismore Inclusive Playground Project to receive a donation of more than $10,000 that will support a plan to build Jude’s Joy at Ennismore Waterfront Park, the first barrier-free playground in Selwyn Township.

The collective philanthropy group held its fourth and final meeting of 2025 on Tuesday (December 9) at The Venue in downtown Peterborough. At each of the group’s quarterly meetings, members hears presentations from three non-profit organizations randomly drawn from a larger list of organizations nominated by the group’s members. Each member commits to donating $100, and the organization that gets the most member votes receives the collective donations.

The three organizations that presented to 100 Women Peterborough at December’s meeting were GreenUP, Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Foundation, and Jude’s Joy, with the latter chosen by majority vote to receive member donations.

Julie Grant, a long-time advocate for accessible and inclusive playgrounds, teamed up with the Ennismore Optimist Club in 2024 to launch the Ennismore Inclusive Playground Project, with the goal of raising $250,000 to cover the cost of building a barrier-free playground at Ennismore Waterfront Park. The playground is named Jude’s Joy after Grant’s son Jude.

“Seeing Jude, my son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and global developmental delay, and other children with disabilities miss out on play experiences with their peers fuelled my sense of social responsibility,” Grant said. “This is why our goal of enhancing accessibility at the Ennismore Waterfront Park has always gone beyond just the playground area.”

The recreational space in the Ennismore Waterfront Park will include accessible play equipment, as well as rubber surfacing instead of the sand and wood chip surfaces typically found at playgrounds. Not only will the space be inclusive for children who face mobility limitations, but it will allow parents and grandparents with disabilities to play alongside children.

Along with Grant, presenters from Jude’s Joy at Tuesday’s meeting included her friend and project partner Nancy Turner as well as Angela Chittick, manager of community and corporate services at Selwyn Township.

100 Women Peterborough founding member Rosalea Terry said she was “thrilled to see our membership show up” on Tuesday night despite the bad weather.

“It speaks volumes about our shared commitment to supporting charities that make a real difference in our community,” Terry added. “We are proud to have just wrapped our eighth year of impact in Peterborough with a collective donation to Jude’s Joy and are excited to continue giving back in 2026.”

Since its formation in 2018, 100 Women Peterborough has collectively donated over $260,000 to 28 local organizations.

Organizations that have received member donations include YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, Vinnies Peterborough, Hospice Peterborough, Peterborough Youth Unlimited, One Roof Warming Room, New Canadians Centre, Cameron House, Five Counties Children’s Centre, Casa De Angelae, Lakefield Animal Welfare Society, Community Care Peterborough, Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, Community Counselling and Resource Centre, Peterborough Pregnancy Support Services, Heads Up for Inclusion, Kawartha Youth Orchestra, Peterborough GreenUP, Bridges Peterborough, YMCA Strong Communities, Homeward Bound Peterborough, Good Neighbours Care Centre and Food Bank, PARN – Your Community AIDS Resource Network, Camp Kawartha, the Teachers For Kids Foundation, Hearts 4 Joy, Camp Northern Lights, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough, and Jude’s Joy.

100 Women Peterborough is part of a growing collective philanthropy movement that began in the United States in November 2006, when Karen Dunigan of Michigan formed the “100 Women Who Care” group. After their first meeting, those women raised over $10,000 for the purchase of 300 new baby cribs for a local organization. The movement has grown over the past 19 years to include groups of men, women, youth, and children around the world, with hundreds of chapters in Canada alone.

For more information about 100 Women Peterborough, visit www.100womenptbo.ca.

Federal officials have confirmed that the Ottawa–Montreal corridor will be the first segment to move forward as part of Alto’s planned high-speed rail network, marking a key milestone in what is being billed as one of the largest infrastructure projects in Canadian history.

At an announcement in Gatineau, Quebec on Friday (December 12), federal transport minister Steven MacKinnon and Alto president and CEO Martin Imbleau said the initial phase of the project will see high-speed rail built between Ottawa and Montreal, a route of roughly 200 kilometres spanning Ontario and Quebec, including a stop in Laval.

According to MacKinnon, it is “logical” to begin with the Ottawa–Montreal segment as it is the shortest and straightest segment of the corridor, since high-speed trains “don’t like curves.” It is also intended to deliver early benefits to travellers and communities while allowing work to begin simultaneously in both provinces. Construction on the segment is expected to begin in 2029.

“This announcement marks an important step forward in delivering faster, cleaner, and more connected transportation for Canadians,” MacKinnon said in a media release. “By working closely with Alto and our partners across governments and communities, we are laying the groundwork for a high-speed rail network that will put Canada firmly on the global map for modern rail innovation, strengthening the economy, creating good jobs, and connecting people across this vital corridor.”

The Ottawa–Montreal segment is part of a broader vision for Canada’s first high-speed rail network, which would eventually stretch approximately 1,000 kilometres from Toronto to Quebec City. Planned stops between Toronto and Quebec City include Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montreal, and Trois-Rivières.

Trains are expected to reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, cutting travel times in half and connecting regions that are home to nearly half of Canada’s population. For example, the estimated travel time between Peterborough and Toronto would be 40 minutes — 45 per cent faster than the 90 minutes required when travelling by road with normal traffic.

According to Alto, which is the Crown corporation overseeing the project, focusing on the shorter and cross-provincial Ottawa–Montreal segment first will help accelerate delivery and build the skilled workforce needed to expand the network to Toronto in the west and Quebec City in the east.

“Undertaking one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Canada’s history requires multi-stage planning,” said Imbleau. “Focusing first on the Ottawa–Montreal segment is a logical step to optimize the project, accelerate delivery, and generate tangible local economic benefits.”

Imbleau added that the approach will allow Alto to mobilize teams more quickly in both provinces while continuing work on the remaining segments of the corridor. With each segment estimated to take six to eight years to build, the entire Toronto–Québec City rail corridor would be completed in the early 2040s.

Beginning in January, Alto will launch a three-month consultation process with the general public as the first phase of a longer-term consultation that will inform the selection of preferred routes and station locations, with a second public consultation process early in 2027.

The initial consultation process will include an online engagement platform, virtual sessions, and in-person open houses, including one scheduled to take place in Peterborough at McDonnel Street Community Centre on Thursday, February 26. Full details on consultation dates and participation options are available on Alto’s website at www.altotrain.ca/en/public-consultation/.

In addition to the public consultations, Alto will also continue engagement with Indigenous communities, municipalities, and public institutions throughout design, environmental studies, construction, and long-term operations. Alto says the project will be guided by commitments to reconciliation and sustainability.

The Canadian government has identified the high-speed rail project as a transformative national initiative and confirmed it will receive support from the Major Projects Office, which means the project will begin four years earlier than the original timeline. Pre-procurement activities are expected to begin in 2026, with Alto and its partner Cadence providing information to industry participants.

The federal government estimates the project could boost Canada’s GDP by up to $35 billion, create approximately 51,000 jobs during construction, and support tens of thousands more across sectors including steel manufacturing, concrete production, electrical systems, digital technologies, and skilled trades.

Beyond direct economic impacts, the project is also expected to boost tourism, support more affordable housing development along the Toronto–Québec City corridor, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by potentially removing 100,000 cars from roads.

With the support of a $6 million donor-funded investment, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) is now equipped with three of the best interventional radiology suites in the province.

On Tuesday afternoon (December 9), the PRHC Foundation hosted donors, media, and dignitaries including Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal for a celebration and tour of the hospital’s three interventional radiology suites.

The opening marks a milestone as the largest investment made so far as part of the PRHC Foundation’s $70 million Campaign for PRHC.

“I often speak about the impacts and lasting joy that philanthropy brings, and today is a perfect example of how donor support is directly changing the face of patient care in our region,” said PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway before the tour.

“Because of this community’s extraordinary generosity, PRHC now has three fully equipped interventional radiology suites. With three suites, the team now treats more patients, more complex conditions, more quickly and safely.”

The investment supported the expansion and upgrade of two 16-year-old existing suites with state-of-the-art technology, as well as the creation of a brand-new suite designed for rapid, high-demand minimally invasive procedures. It also included the expansion of the preparation and recovery area, which most hospitals don’t have, from 10 to 14 beds.

The technology in the suites allows interventional radiologists to perform minimally invasive surgeries using real-time imaging such as CT scans, fluoroscopy, or ultrasound to steer needles, guidewires, and catheters into small incisions in the skin or through blood vessels.

The process is used to find and fix issues just about anywhere in the body for a wide range of procedures including draining infections, doing a biopsy for cancer, or stopping a hemorrhage. If surgery is too high risk for a patient, interventional radiology could be a safer and faster option.

PRHC president and CEO Dr. Lynn Mikula explained that the regional hospital is one of the busiest interventional radiology centres in the province, serving more than 300,000 people across Peterborough and surrounding communities.

“These donor-funded upgrades have helped us recruit an additional interventional radiologist, increasing our team from four to five highly skilled specialists who are all leaders in their field,” said Dr. Mikula.

“They previously performed over 6,000 procedures per year and, with the increased capacity of these suites, we’re able to care for more patients, 20 to 25 on a typical day, while also reducing wait times.”

PRHC interventional radiologist Dr. Fady Abdelsayed said interventional radiology is often referred to as “the best kept secret in medicine,” because it is so critical though not as well known as other areas of patient care.

“The advanced capabilities of the suites allow us to take on more complex procedures, with minimally invasive techniques with greater safety and precision,” he said. “We can treat more patients, which will reduce wait time, and the technologies help us push the boundaries of what’s possible.”

Joined by PRHC charge technologist Julie Stinson, Dr. Abdelsayed led a tour of the newest of the three interventional radiology suites. The team demonstrated the C-arm fluoroscopy machine which provides real-time images on state-of-the-art screens that guide the surgeries. Stinson also provided demonstrations of some of the features of upgraded software.

Dr. Abdelsayed explained that the suites are brighter and much bigger to accommodate more specialists in the room, are designed to allow them to work from both sides of the table, and are equipped with brand-new safety protections for the team.

“It’s touched many locations in the hospital and our volumes have been exponentially increasing,” said Dr. Abdelsayed of interventional radiology.

The interventional radiologists are on a 24/7 rotation, which allows the team to do routine and more complex procedures on weekends, in the middle of the night, and without having to transport the patient to other hospitals.

“Patients don’t have to leave their family or go through this difficult time on their own and their family doesn’t need to be inconvenienced,” Dr. Adbelsayed said.

As government funding does not support the upgrade or advancements of hospital technology, Dr. Abdelsayed said “we’re very lucky to have one of the largest interventional radiology departments in the province” thanks to donor support.

The next priority area for the hospital is introducing the region’s first state-of-the-art hybrid operating room.

The technology will revolutionize vascular care by allowing clinical teams to perform multiple open and minimally invasive operations on the same patient, on the same day, in the same room.

“It’s a more advanced level of technology to support the surgeons to deliver better care and more advanced procedures close to home instead of sending people away,” said Dr. Mikula. “It’s something that we desperately want to get going as our next innovation here at PRHC.”