Peterborough runner Joel Kimmett was at the Peterborough Lift Lock Tuesday morning (August 23) to embark on a 20-kilometre run on the fourth day of the annual Canal Pursuit for Mental Health, a 700-kilmetre relay run to raise awareness and end the stigma around mental health issues.

Now in its eighth year, the relay run roughly follows the Trent Severn Canal from Port Severn to Trenton, and then the Rideau Canal from Kingston to Ottawa. The run began in Port Severn last Saturday and will finish on Parliament Hill on Ottawa this Saturday.

The Canal Pursuit for Mental Health is the brainchild of Clay Williams, who is also one of the co-founders and race director of the Monarch Ultra Relay Run to raise awareness about the plight of the threatened monarch butterfly. The Elmira resident organized the Canal Pursuit for Mental Health in honour of his wife, his daughter, and his sister — who all suffer from mood disorders — and in memory of his two older brothers who took their own lives.

For the first two years, he ran the entire route himself — an average of 90 kilometres per day — and now leads the team of relay runners, while continuing to run segments. Since 2015, the run has raised almost $100,000 for the Belleville-based not-for-profit organization Mood Disorders Society of Canada.

“The conversation that we want to promote with this project is two-fold,” Williams says in a media release. “First, if you’re struggling with a mood disorder, talk to someone you trust. The second part of the message is that physical activity can help make many symptoms of mood disorders more manageable, fitting in with the national Defeat Depression campaign.”

Defeat Depression is a national mental health fundraising and awareness campaign. Volunteers and organizations across Canada organize walks, runs, and other physical or social activities to support awareness of mental health, reduce stigma, and encourage people to come forward for the help they need. For more information, visit www.defeatdepression.ca.

“We all have an important role to play in removing the stigma around mental illness, so that people can feel comfortable reaching out to seek treatment,” Williams says.

For more information about the Canal Pursuit for Mental Health Relay Run and to make a donation, visit CanalPursuit.DefeatDepression.ca.

VIDEO: Interview with Clay Wiliams

On Friday (August 19), the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario released a proposed electoral map for public consultation, which would see significant changes made to the federal ridings in the greater Kawarthas region to reflect population changes in the 2021 census.

Canada’s constitution requires that federal electoral districts be reviewed after each 10-year census to reflect changes and movements in Canada’s population.

“The proposal reflects Ontario’s increase in population from 12,851,821 in 2011 to 14,223,942, as captured in the 2021 Census, and takes into consideration communities of interest or identity, and historic and geographic factors,” read the Federal Redistribution website at redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca, where you can also find maps and detailed descriptions of the proposed changes to ridings across Canada.

The population of Central East Ontario — which includes the existing ridings of Peterborough-Kawartha, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, Northumberland-Peterborough South, and Hastings-Lennox and Addington, as well as Bay of Quinte — grew by nine per cent, from 535,322 in 2011 to 583,287 in 2021, with an average population of 116,657 in 2021.

The commission shifted boundaries to balance the population of the electoral districts across Central East Ontario. The shift most significantly affects the existing riding of Hastings-Lennox and Addington, but also affects the existing ridings of Peterborough-Kawartha, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, and Northumberland-Peterborough South.

Under the proposed electoral map, Peterborough-Kawartha would be renamed Peterborough, Northumberland-Peterborough South would be renamed Northumberland, and Hastings-Lennox and Addington would be renamed Hastings-Lennox and Addington-Tyendingaga. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock would be renamed Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes.

The proposed Peterborough riding, comprising a population of 121,270 according to the 2021 census, would include the City of Peterborough, the portion of the Municipality of Trent Lakes comprising the islands of Curve Lake First Nation, the Townships of Douro-Dummer, Otonabee-South Monaghan, and Selwyn, part of Alnwick/Haldimand and part of Cavan Monaghan townships, and Alderville First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, and Hiawatha First Nation.

The townships of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen and North Kawartha in Peterborough County would be moved into Hastings-Lennox and Addington-Tyendingaga, and the Municpality of Trent Lakes in Peterborough County (except for the islands of Curve Lake First Nation) would be moved into Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock.

The proposed Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock riding, comprising a population of 120,241 according to the 2021 census, would include the City of Kawartha Lakes, the Municipality of Dysart et al, the western portion of the Municipality of Highlands East, the Municipality of Trent Lakes (except for the islands of the Curve Lake First Nation), the townships of Algonquin Highlands, Brock, and Minden Hills, and a portion of Cavan Monaghan Township.

The proposed Northumberland riding, comprising a population of 114,414 according to the 2021 census, would include the Town of Cobourg, the municipalities of Brighton, Port Hope, and Trent Hills, a portion of the Municipality of Clarington, the townships of Asphodel-Norwood, Cramahe, and Hamilton, and a portion of Alnwick/Haldimand and Cavan Monaghan townships. Otonabee-South Monaghan Township would move to the proposed Peterborough riding.

The proposed Hastings-Lennox and Addington-Tyendinaga riding, comprising a population of 111,331 according to the 2021 census, would include a portion of the City of Belleville, the towns of Bancroft, Deseronto, and Greater Napanee, the municipalities of Centre Hastings, Hastings Highlands, Marmora and Lake, and Tweed, a portion of the Municipality of Highlands East, the townships of Addington Highlands, Carlow/Mayo, Faraday, Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, Limerick, Loyalist, Madoc, North Kawartha, Stirling-Rawdon, Stone Mills, Tudor and Cashel, Tyendinaga, and Wollaston, and Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

The process for confirming the proposed electoral map is scheduled to continue until September 2023, when the final electoral districts will be determined.

“The new boundaries can only be put in place at a general election called at least seven months after the new electoral districts have been set,” reads the Federal Redistribution website. “This time allows for Elections Canada, political parties, candidates and sitting MPs to prepare for the next general election … We expect that the new federal electoral boundaries will take effect during a general election held after April 1, 2024, at the earliest.”

The commission is holding in-person and virtual public hearings this fall to gather comments and feedback on the proposed boundaries and electoral district names.

The first virtual hearing will take place on Monday, September 26th. If you want to make a representation at a hearing, you have to complete a public hearing participation form by September 26. A full list of virtual and in-person public hearings, along with the public hearing participation form, is available at redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca, where you can also find instructions on how to make a submission in writing as an alternative to attending an in-person or virtual hearing.

PDF: Proposal of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario
Proposal of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario

If Gail Parry ever questioned just how brutally hurtful people can be, the answer has been painfully provided time and time again.

As the mother of a daughter who died of health issues related to substance use, the Peterborough resident has suffered the brunt of people’s judgment of her daughter. In more than one case, that judgment has been expressed cruelly, deeply hurting a woman who simply misses her child very much.

“I don’t have the patience to argue with people anymore, or try and tell them it (substance use) is a disease,” says Parry, a member of Moms Stop The Harm, a network of Canadian families that, among other things, advocates for change as that pertains to failed substance use strategies and policies.

A prime example of what she has had to endure occurred at Peterborough Square, where she annually erects a white Christmas tree festooned with bulbs featuring the faces of local people who have died as a result of their substance use.

“A man stopped and said ‘They all should be taken out into a field and then shot in the head like a sick horse’,” says Parry, struggling to hold back her anger and her anguish.

“I said ‘These are our kids on this tree.’ Then he said it again. There are a lot of people that have judgment. It’s terrible. Ignorance equals stupidity.”

But such disturbing encounters have done nothing to deter Parry from her mission of advocating for change, not only as that pertains to people’s attitudes but also in terms of ensuring more mothers don’t have to lose what she has.

With the memory of her daughter Jody Smith front and centre, Parry has been the key organizer of local events associated with International Overdose Awareness Day held annually on August 31.

One of those events takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, August 31st at Millennium Park adjacent to the Silver Bean Café, and will feature booths staffed by a number of agencies on the front lines of harm mitigation efforts, substance use education, and lifesaving training on naloxone administration.

The previous Tuesday (August 23), Parry will be present when flags marking International Overdose Awareness Day are raised first at Peterborough City Hall, where Mayor Diane Therrien will read the proclamation for International Overdose Awareness Day, and then at the Peterborough police station — the latter, believes Parry, being a first by any police service in Canada.

After that, posters promoting the August 31st event will go up at various locations, including at Peterborough Regional Health Centre in the emergency and intensive care departments.

Parry, whose contribution to the day includes making purple crepe-paper flowers — in memory of her daughter Jody — and attaching them, along with other grieving moms, to white crosses in the park, will this year also display a banner she made that portrays the faces of people lost to substance use.

“They need this to honour their children,” says Parry of those who grieve, adding that Moms Stop The Harm “unfortunately has new members every day” — a clear indication that deaths related to substance use are not remotely close to being prevented.

The group formed in 2015 when three moms — two in Edmonton and one from Pender Island, BC — came together out of a joint desire to speak out about the drug poisoning crisis.

VIDEO: “Stop the Harm: A Movement of Mothers Fighting to Save Lives and End Prohibition”

That initial discussion led to the formation of objectives aimed at ensuring substance users are not criminalized and that their rights are respected. In addition, the group supports a harm reduction approach that is both compassionate and non-discriminatory for people who use substances.

Moms Stop The Harm has two Facebook groups, one public and one private. Parry was initially active with the public group but, after Jody passed, she joined the private group.

Remembering her daughter Jody as “compassionate, kind, so non-judgmental, and a good mom,” Parry admits to not having moved on since Jody’s death — nor does she ever expect to.

“Jody’s life just spiralled apart when she was 32,” recalls Parry. “She had surgery. I thought ‘Oh good, she can come off the pain pills’, but it didn’t work that way. She had two girls. I had to take them.”

“She became addicted to pain medication, but I always believed she was dabbling in cocaine too. What really set things off was she received a large amount of money in back income tax and it all went on drugs.”

As one would expect, watching her daughter become more embroiled in substance use “was pure hell. You don’t know where they are. You don’t if they are alive.”

“There were times that she would come home and get her sobriety and work the program and do really good. The last time she came home was in 2013. She was on a waiting list for long-term treatment. She waited seven months and relapsed. She ended up meeting her boyfriend, who had a prescription for fentanyl. That went on for five years until she went into the hospital and passed away.”

Parry notes Jody’s health problems, which involved her heart, started much earlier in 2011 when she used cocaine cut with levamisole, a cattle de-wormer.

Close to four years after Jody’s death, people’s judgment of both her daughter and her substance use leaves Parry equal parts bitter and sad.

“I’ve had people say ‘Well, she made a choice,'” Parry says.

“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t think of saying that to a mom who lost a child, whether it be because of substance use or drunk driving. At the hospital, when Jody was in a coma, I was told ‘You know she’s going to get right back out there and use again.’ Excuse me but you don’t know that.”

People need to stop and think, says Parry, noting any one of us could lose a family member or a close friend due to substance use — something she believes many substance users, Jody included, are predisposed to do.

Still Parry remains hopeful, her optimism buoyed by the establishment of the Consumption and Treatment Services site at King and Aylmer streets in the city’s downtown core.

“It’s great,” she says, adding “My daughter didn’t want to go to the hospital. A lot of substance users don’t because of stigma and judgment. They can go (to the CTS instead) and get some sort of help.”

However, the lack of safe supply access, notes Parry, remains an issue.

“Drugs now are so toxic,” she says.

While Parry agrees the Peterborough safer supply project launched this past May — overseen by Peterborough 360 Degree Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic — is a start, it only has the capability at this point to supply 50 users with an alternative to the poisoned drug supply. Another challenge comes with how some users are taking substances.

“There’s a lot of inhalation now with fentanyl, so there’s a lot of overdoses — not too many inject,” she points out. “If you go to safe supply, there’s big waiting list. You have to either inject it or snort it or swallow it. People aren’t going to inject because they stopped injecting, so they smoke it. We’d like it set up (the CTS) for inhalation too but that has to come from Health Canada. More work needs to be done there.”

Moms Stop The Harm, says Parry, will continue to advocate for change in these areas and others, declaring, with a united voice, that “All of these deaths (from substance use) are preventable.”

“Our governments could do something about this. We saw how quick our governments got into action with COVID, so we know it can be done.”

For more information about Moms Stop The Harm, including its core objectives and a photo gallery of members’ loved one who have passed, visit www.momsstoptheharm.com. To access the group’s public Facebook page, visit facebook.com/MomsStopTheHarm.

Two people are dead following two separate collisions on Saturday evening (August 20) in Peterborough County where vehicles went into ditches.

One collision happened at around 7 p.m. north of Buckhorn on County Road 507 just north of County Road 36, when a vehicle travelling southbound left the roadway and entered the ditch. The lone occupant was pronounced dead at scene.

County Road 507 was closed for several hours while police documented the scene.

At around 7:15 p.m., a vehicle with two occupants went into a ditch on 10th Line north of Norwood. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and the passenger was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

10th Line was currently closed between Webster Road and Dummer-Asphodel Road for several hours while police documented the scene.

Police are continuing to investigate the causes of both collisions.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collisions or has dashcam footage and has not yet spoken with police is asked to contact the Peterborough County detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police at 705-742-0401 or 1-888-310-1122.

If at first you succeed, do it again. That’s the approach Trent University student Simal Iftikhar has taken in her actions-speak-louder-than-words push back against youth homelessness and its root causes.

Last March during the pandemic, Iftikhar held a virtual sleep out in Peterborough that not only raised awareness of the fact that far too many sleep outside every night of the year, but also brought in just more than $5,000 for the YES Shelter for Youth and Families.

Buoyed by the response to that initial effort “to do something,” Iftikhar is now preparing to again sleep outside in the courtyard of the Peterborough Lions Community Centre at 347 Burnham Street in East City. She’ll bed down in her sleeping bag at 7 p.m. on September 10 and brave the elements until 7 p.m. the following day.

This year, along with raising awareness of youth homelessness, Iftikhar is drawing attention to the unfortunate reality that many homeless youth are also victims of human trafficking.

The monetary goal of “Sleep Out – Youth Empowerment Edition” is to again raise $5,000, with donations being accepted via GoFundMe at gofundme.com/f/sleep-out-youth-empowerment-edition. All money raised will be divided equally between the YES Shelter and the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre.

What really has Iftikhar excited as this year’s event nears is that many others can join her. In 2021, pandemic restrictions meant she slept out with Jocelyn Enright in Enright’s back yard, with the YES Shelter livestreaming the event. Now she has room for 50 others to join her for the all-nighter outside the Lions Club. She encourages people to register for the sleep out at eventbrite.com/e/372733525007.

“I was surprised at how many people joined me from their own homes,” recalls Iftikhar of her virtual sleep-out event during the pandemic. “Sleep outs aren’t new. They’ve been done before. But it’s something that usually happens in person. People come out and sleep outside and really get an understanding of the homelessness experience. For a virtual event, I was really shocked at how much I was able to fundraise.”

Iftikhar’s motivation for mounting an in-person in September is her growing dismay “over everything going on downtown. That’s where I live. It (homelessness) is something we can’t avoid anymore.”

“When the pandemic started, it was the first time we saw shelters turn people away. When I heard that, I knew I had to do something. We can’t let people sleep outside. We’ve seen, in our own city, people being kicked out of parks. Going from place, they have nowhere to go.”

“It’s really hard when you don’t what to do. I felt very hopeless at the beginning the pandemic when I walked downtown and saw so many families in tents — little babies, youths. I knew I wanted to do something.”

This past Wednesday (August 17), the United Way Peterborough & District released a comprehensive report that bears out Iftikhar’s contention homelessness is becoming more prevalent more quickly. The 2021 Point-in-Time Count survey saw more than 50 staff and volunteers with social services and outreach agencies enumerate 176 people experiencing homelessness in Peterborough over a period of 24 hours beginning the morning of December 9, 2021.

The survey revealed many things. but prevalent among the revelations is that 71 per cent of those surveyed met the definition of chronic homelessness, up from 49 per cent revealed by the last Point In Time Count in 2018. In addition, the survey found 47 people living outside or in other spaces unfit for habitation. Four years ago, that number was four.

More specific to Iftikhar’s mission, of the 38 youths aged 16 to 24 surveyed, 61 per cent were in a chronic homelessness spiral with one in two respondents reporting that their first experience with homelessness occurred before their 22nd birthday. At 39 per cent, conflict with a parent or guardian was the number one reason for being on the streets.

“We know that there are many homeless youth, but what people don’t realize is a lot of these youths are also at high risk of trafficking,” says Iftikhar. “When you are homeless, you need access to food and shelter. That makes you really vulnerable. Homeless youths who don’t have access to these things are more likely to stay with a trafficker. It’s also part of the reason these individuals remain homeless.”

As to why the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre is one of her fundraiser beneficiaries, Iftikhar notes a number of youths who stay at the YES Shelter on Brock Street have used that agency’s services as well.

Like any fundraiser of this nature, Iftikhar’s secondary aim is to simply raise awareness. She is hopeful her sleep out will take a bite out of the stigma around homelessness and its root causes, and force a stronger call to action.

“It’s really easy to judge people who are homeless,” she says. “It’s really easy to stay home or look the other way and think ‘It’s not my problem’, but we have so much power to solve this issue.”

Iftikhar also hopes the timing of her sleep out will put the issue front-and-centre for the upcoming municipal election in October.

“Speaking to lots of people downtown, they don’t understand what causes homelessness. They don’t know understand the opioid crisis or the mental health crisis. I hope that, by doing the sleep out, we are putting forward more information about homelessness and who’s at risk, and people will have that information going into this election. The young population makes up a huge percentage of voters. It’s one of the issues that they care about.”

Not lost on Iftikhar is the significance of young people like herself doing something concrete to help young people who are in a dire situation.

“This could be me (that’s homeless), especially with issues people experienced during the pandemic — losing jobs, not being able to make rent or their mortgage payments. It’s also a huge issue for students. We hear about it all the time and we feel the need to do something.”

Now, with the days counting down quickly to her sleep out, Iftikhar admits it’s “hard at times” to remain optimistic the issue of homelessness will be seriously addressed.

“Not seeing things change is difficult, but then you see different (awareness) events occurring and people fundraising and you feel better,” she says. “I really have no choice but to be optimistic, especially if people who are homeless are. I talk to people on the street all the time and they still have hope. They’re still trying to make a change and doing the best they can. I don’t see how I could have any excuse to not be hopeful too.”

Currently pursuing her master’s in education at Trent University — her thesis is on supporting refugees in Ontario — Iftikhar previously worked in the mental field in Peterborough, helping establish a walk-in clinic at one agency among other things.

“I’ve interacted with people who were homeless and very vulnerable,” she says. “It’s something I’ve cared about for a long time. It’s something that my research has been focused on. I already have such a large interest in this. I never thought I’d have any opportunity to do something, but I had to do something. You can’t just wait around for other people.”

Asked if her sleep out will go ahead if the forecast calls for rain, Iftikhar’s quick response tells us all we need to know about her sincerity.

“There’s people out there sleeping in the rain, so we will too.”

The ReFrame Film Festival in Peterborough has announced both festival director Jay Adam and creative director Amy Siegel will be leaving the non-profit organization.

“All of us here at ReFrame are sad to say farewell to these fiercely wise, highly skilled, and beloved staff, and we are deeply appreciative of the vision and stability they have contributed to
the ReFrame Film Festival during their tenure,” reads a statement from the festival’s board.

“As with all things, change is inevitable, and we are honoured to have worked alongside Jay and Amy, and we wish them all the best in the next phases of their careers and lives.”

Adam was the festival manager for the 2018 ReFrame Film Festival, and assumed the new role of festival director in August 2018 following the departure of festival executive director Krista English who, along with co-founder Carole Roy, launched the first film festival in 2005 as the “Travelling World Community Film Festival.”

A graduate of the Documentary Media MFA Program at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University), Siegel was announced as the festival’s creative director in July 2018.

Adam will be leaving the organization in September, and the festival’s board of directors is now seeking applications for festival director. The position, which reports to the board, is the lead administrator of the festival that oversees finances, fundraising, community and outreach partnerships, and recruitment of contract staff and volunteers.

The deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, September 2. For more information, visit reframefilmfestival.ca/careers.

Siegel will be curating the program for the January 2023 festival, together with the programming committee, before leaving in late fall. Applications for the creative director position will be announced at a later date.