Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri addressed Peterborough city council for the first time since she was elected during the virtual general committee meeting on Monday night (April 11), with most of the discussion involving housing.

“Thank you so much for having me everyone,” Ferreri said. “Finally, nice to be here — it only took, what, seven months?”

Ferreri, who is at her constituency office this week, attended council for 45 minutes to provide an update on her activities as federal MP and to answer questions from councillors.

Ferreri began by speaking about her focus on increasing housing supply, decreasing wait times, and supporting municipalities.

“As many of you know, I’m in opposition so I’m not making the decisions, but trying to work alongside government to help them make the best decisions, so that obviously places like Peterborough-Kawartha can have more housing and in turn help with the homeless crisis,” she said.

Ferreri also mentioned mental health and the opioid crisis — “the other key thing that I’m working on” — and described her recent trip to Vancouver where she visited a consumption treatment site and a mental health facility for youth.

In her role as shadow minister for tourism, Ferreri said she is “working hard” to help the local tourism industry recover, but provided no details.

After Ferreri invited questions, councillor Lesley Parnell asked Ferreri what she had been able to do to secure federal funding for affordable housing in the city.

“In my experience, a lot of this is at the municipal level in terms of the red tape in sort of the planning process. On our end, obviously I’m working across party lines to do this but I think there’s going to have to be a big shift in how the money is funnelled down to the municipality, and that’s what we’re working at — to open that up. Right now the biggest feedback I hear from builders — the timeline, the permits, the money.”

Referring to the planned new sports complex at Morrow Park, Parnell then asked Ferreri whether she is able to work with the federal government and MPP Dave Smith to “come up with some recreational subsidies for us.”

“Definitely working on the federal side, that’s for sure,” Ferreri said. “Hopefully we’ll have more updates for you guys in the coming weeks and months on that. But absolutely on my radar, and (I’m) working with the minister.”

Parnell also asked about whether Ferreri is working with the province on getting a detox and rehabilitation centre for Peterborough.

“I’m met with (federal) minister of mental health (and addictions) Carolyn Bennett to make sure that we are on the radar and whatever I can do to make sure that Peterborough-Kawartha gets what it needs,” Ferreri said.

In response to another question from Parnell, Ferreri said she supported the proposed “system navigator” position with the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), which would help people experiencing homelessness. (Editor’s note: Later on in the general committee meeting, council voted to allocate $160,000 for the position over the next three years, despite a staff recommendation against it because it would duplicate work done by city social services staff and other agencies.)

Councillor Dean Pappas asked Ferreri for her support in securing funding for crisis management teams to help with the opioid crisis.

“I wish I could tell you I have funding secured and I could write you a big fat cheque right now, but the conversation is happening,” Ferreri said. “Again, I opened up that relationship with Minister Bennett as soon as she was announced (as) minister of mental health.”

Councillor Keith Riel asked Ferreri whether she could help the city in “getting our hands on any of that money” from the federal budget announcement of $10 billion for rapid housing.

“I’d like to say yes — I’m not going to say yes, because I’m not going to make promises,” she said. “I don’t know. What we really need to do is we really need to empower the municipalities.”

Riel asked Ferreri why she hasn’t reached out to either him or to councillor Henry Clarke, as the chairs of housing for the city and also the chair and co-chair of Peterborough Housing Corp, to discuss housing.

“I would tell you that works both ways, Keith — I haven’t heard anything from you either,” she replied, offering to book some time with him “in the next week or two.”

Riel then asked Ferreri about what she will be doing to help the tourism industry recover in the city and county.

“In order for us to restore this industry, we have to restore travel confidence,” she replied. “We have to say we’re open, safely, for business … I will continue to advocate for tourism.”

Riel also asked Ferreri about bringing jobs to Peterborough.

“We need to make Peterborough a destination for people,” she said. “It needs to be easy to get here, it needs to be easy to get around, and we need houses that you can afford to live in to work here as well

Councillor Kim Zippel asked Ferreri how she is supporting the city’s declaration of a climate emergency and its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030.

“I think it’s about listening,” Ferreri said. “What do you need and where is my role on the federal level to best support you? That’s the easiest way for me to answer that right now.”

Councillor Kemi Akapo asked Ferreri whether she could describe any “tangible results” from her meetings about housing.

“Money is fine, but it has to be targeted, it has to have a plan, it has to be well utilized,” Ferreri said. “It can’t be just kind of flown out there with no plan or strategy. So I think we’re really just putting that pressure on to make sure that there is a clear strategy, because we have to open up supply so those most vulnerable as well are off the streets.”

Akapo asked about the housing task force and when it will be providing some “tangible solutions” for communities.

“I’m trying to be mindful to not get too partisan,” Ferreri replied. “It’s a challenge not to, I’ll be honest with you, because when we’re standing in the House of Commons and we’re having meetings with the housing minister, there is this narrative that all these houses have been built and that their programming is working, and it’s not.”

Ferreri then raised concerns about fees and taxes a young couple had to pay to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Akapo also asked Ferreri about whether she had any updates on the status of passenger rail service to Peterborough.

“There’s no real further update on when, other than what’s been put out,” Ferreri said. “But it is a priority is what I’ve been told.”

(Editor’s note: in March, the federal government announced it was inviting the private sector to formally express their interest in partnering with the federal government to build the high frequency rail project, with construction expected to begin in the mid-2020s and the service fully operational in the early 2030s.)

Councillor Henry Clarke asked Ferreri whether she’s had a chance to “find out where the pots of gold are buried” for federal capital infrastructure funding for municipalities.

“I don’t have a pot of gold — I wish I did — nor do I have the map of where it is as of yet,” she replied. “That being said, (I’m) continuing to work with parties across all lines to figure out how we open up to access to capital.”

Councillor Parnell asked Ferreri what the solution is to the housing crisis, stating “You can’t just be partisan and blame the government.”

“I would tell you to vote for a Conservative government, would be my short answer,” Ferreri said. “What they’re doing, it’s not working, and so I don’t know what else to say to you other than that. The fact is that you can’t keep printing money and expect inflation to continue to grow and then expect the cost of housing to go down. You can’t expect to just continue to have the red tape for municipalities.”

Parnell then asked Ferreri what she would do differently if she were in government.

“You have to open up supply — there’s not enough supply,” Ferreri said. “So it’s a very simple equation because there’s not enough. So if I go to the grocery store, and there’s only three grapes, and 10,000 people need a grape, the cost of the grape is going to go up. So let’s replace grapes with houses. We need more housing.”

“So your answer would be to help us build more housing with federal funds?” Parnell asked.

“It’s not always about money,” Ferreri replied. “There’s lots of people who are there able to build right now. I have four or five builders on my phone right now that could put up 10, 20, 30 houses right now, but they are restricted by the red tape, the permits, the planning, the costs … It’s not always about spending money, it’s where the money is being directed.”

Parnell also asked whether Ferreri had any information about where the proposed high frequency rail corridor would go through the Peterborough area, as the city has not accommodated that in its transportation master plan.

“I cannot speak to it, but it is a great question and I’m open to discussing it further,” Ferreri said.

Councillor Akapo asked Ferreri for how she plans to advocate for funds for the Peterborough area for the new dental care program announced in the federal budget.

“I would be amiss if I told you I was well versed in this as of yet, and I’m not,” Ferreri admitted. “I’m open to have that conversation and follow up with you thereafter. I’m been a long-time advocate for making sure people have access to dental care.”

Mayor Diane Therrien asked Ferreri for a “specific example of the red tape that we need to deal with at the municipality,” as well as examples in the planning or permitting process.

“Delays are probably one of the biggest things I’ve heard … just the delay to get a permit is what some are calling red tape,” Ferreri replied.

Therrien also asked Ferreri about her opinion on closing tax loopholes for wealthy Canadians. Ferreri replied that she couldn’t speak on that issue, but agreed in principle.

Peterborough city council has rejected a proposed city by-law to regulate election signs in the city, mainly because candidates would have to pay a fee to recover non-compliant signs removed by the city.

A city staff team that included the city solicitor, elections coordinator, property standards officer, and others reviewed by-laws and rules from other Ontario municipalities to come up with the by-law, which was presented at the general committee meeting on Monday night (April 11).

The proposed by-law covered a number of issues with federal, provincial, and municipal election signs, including the placement of signs near voting locations, sign dimensions, the removal of unlawful election signs, the content of election signs, and third-party signs.

For example, the by-law would prohibit placement of signs on public property, including parks and areas adjacent to a roadway such as a boulevard. Signs displayed by third-party advertisers would have to identify the municipality where they are registered and provide contact information for the third party.

The staff report also recommended a fee of $10 be collected from candidates who seek to recover election signs that city staff remove because they were placed contrary to the by-law, with the fee helping offset the cost incurred by staff to remove non-compliant signs.

Councillor Dean Pappas moved that the report be received for information, which would mean council would not approve the by-law.

Calling it an “unfair by-law,” Pappas primarily objected to the proposed fee for candidates to recover signs, citing the lack of control candidates have over signs placed on private property such as a boulevard.

He said that the by-law would benefit candidates who could either afford to recover non-compliant signs by paying the fee or who could just produce more signs to replace those removed by city staff.

“I know there were some good intentions out behind this, but I don’t think it’s a workable by-law and I don’t think it’s fair in any way,” Pappas said.

Councillor Kim Zippel also expressed concerns about the fee but questioned why the entire by-law was not being considered by council.

“This is one small section of the by-law,” she said. “I’m not sure why we would be not using the by-law in its entirety and just removing that particular step, or setting the fees to zero at this juncture.”

In response to Zippel’s question, city clerk John Kennedy said the fee could be removed, or council could just move forward with sections of the by-law.

“I don’t think the whole by-law needs to be thrown out,” Zippel said, while adding a concern about the potential environmental impact for the city in disposing of collected signs that candidates do not pay to recover.

In the end, all councillors except for Zippel and Kemi Akapo voted in support of Pappas’s motion to receive the report for information, meaning council did not approve the by-law.

Peterborough mayor Diane Therrien has declared April 22 to 28, 2022 as Rotary Super Spring Clean-up Week and the three Rotary clubs in the Peterborough area have issued a call to action to area residents.

For the past 15 years, Peterborough Rotary Club, Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha, and the Rotary Club of Bridgenorth-Ennismore-Lakefield have come together to organize large community clean-ups in the spring.

“You can see the amount of garbage that has collected over the winter in parks, ravines, roadsides, and ditches,” reads a media release. “Plastic in particular is harmful as it breaks down to micro particles and is now found in lakes, rivers, oceans, and even in our ground water.”

The annual spring clean-up is part of an international Rotary project called The Great Lakes Watershed Clean-up, where hundreds of Rotary clubs on both sides of the border organize clean-ups in their own communities to help protect the watershed area of the Great Lakes.

The local Rotary clubs are encouraging Peterborough-area residents to take part in this year’s efforts to clean up the community and the environment by starting or joining a clean-up group and choosing an area, a roadside, a ravine, a park, or a trail to pick up trash.

For more information, including clean-up safety guidelines, visit www.superspringcleaup.ca.

During his first public appearance in over a month, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said the province will not be reinstating a mask mandate — at least not yet — in indoor public spaces including schools.

At a media briefing at Queen’s Park on Monday (April 11), Dr. Kieran Moore said it is “clear” Ontario is in the sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by the omicron B.A2 subvariant.

“In the last few weeks, we have seen an increase in the per cent positivity, an upward trend in wastewater surveillance, and a rise in hospitalizations,” he said. “These trends are likely to continue for the next several weeks.”

While he issued a “strong recommendation” for Ontarians to continue wearing a well-fitted, three-layer face mask in all public indoor settings, he said the province has no immediate plans to reinstate a mask mandate.

“While we will not be reinstating a broad mask mandate at this time, we should all be prepared that we may need to resume a requirement for mask wearing in indoor public spaces if a new variant of concern emerges, a threat to our health care system, or potentially during the winter months when COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses are likely to circulate again.”

Instead, Dr. Moore said it is “critical to stay up to date with your vaccination” by receiving all recommended doses, including booster doses if eligible.

“It’s your best defence against severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” he said. “Booster doses save lives.”

Dr. Moore also encouraged Ontarians to determine whether they are eligible for assessment for antiviral treatments, including the oral antiviral Paxlovid, by visiting ontario.ca/antiviralscreener.

Shortly before Dr. Moore began his media briefing, the Ontario government announced it is expanding eligibility for COVID-19 antiviral treatments and PCR testing to more high-risk individuals, including those 18 and over who are immunocompromised, those 70 and over, those 60 and over who have had fewer than three vaccine doses, and those 18 and over ho have had fewer than three vaccine doses and at least one risk condition, such as a chronic medical condition.

After Dr. Moore finished his statement at the media briefing, a reporter questioned why he had not spoken publicly earlier during the sixth wave.

“At my last press conference I told you I’d come out if there was an issue — the purpose today is to remind all Ontarians that they are all eligible for boosters,” he said. “The purpose of coming out today is just to reiterate, yes, we’re in the sixth wave, yes, we will see a rise in admissions to hospital and to the intensive care unit, but as always we have tools that can mitigate that and prevent it for all Ontarians, and to call once again for people to come forward and get immunized.”

When the reporter repeated his question, asking “Is this the last we’re going to see of you for another month?”, Dr. Moore said it was the responsibility of all health care leaders to disseminate information.

“If I have new messaging of risk to any of the citizens of Ontarians, I will absolutely come out,” he said. “We share all of our key messaging — we did this last week — with all of our local public health agencies, all of our health system leaders, as well as our hospital leadership.”

As for the remaining mask mandate in high-risk settings — in hospitals and other health care settings, long-term care homes and retirement homes, congregate settings, and public transit — which is scheduled to be lifted on April 27, Dr. Moore said the province is considering maintaining it until the middle or end of May.

“We’ll present that to government and the government will make the final decision but, to me, that makes tremendous sense to maintain it,” he said.

The Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes has announced the new Rural Youth Leadership Fund that will cover the costs of Kawarthas Lakes residents aged 17 to 29 who want to participate in leadership training.

Founded by long-time Fenelon Falls resident Mike Perry, the fund will cover tuition for training programs offered by the Institute For Change Leaders as well as accommodation and transportation costs and even lost wages from participating in the programs.

“I started this fund as I know our local young people have the voice and power to strengthen our communities going forward,” Perry says in a media release. “I just want to help them access training from the best in the business, to bring their new knowledge home to their work in our Kawartha Lakes communities.”

A registered Canadian charity, the Institute For Change Leaders (ICL) was founded in 2016 by Olivia Chow, the long-time activist, Toronto politician, and widow of late federal NDP leader Jack Layton. Using unique methods from Harvard University, ICL combines the art of personal self-discovery with concrete organizing skills to help people channel their inner leader and learn to make change in areas they are interested in.

“We are pleased to provide this opportunity to build youth leadership here in Kawartha Lakes,” says Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes president Jack Roks. “This will help local young people to access the latest, greatest, leadership training.”

Lindsay resident Jessica Topfer, 25, says she is thrilled to have access to leadership training so she can grow both personally and professionally.

“As a young person, having affordable access to learning resources positions me better to participate in spaces and conversations that young folks are usually not truly included in, especially decision making.” Topfer says.

The Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes will be providing all high schools in Kawartha Lakes — Lindsay Collegiate and Vocational Institute, I.E. Weldon Secondary School, Fenelon Falls Secondary School, and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School — with information about the Rural Youth Leadership Fund.

“Our young people know what’s missing in our communities and I’m thrilled that this fund wants to engage with youth in this capacity,” says Elizabeth Alton, vice-principal of Fenelon Falls Secondary School. “Students here have already expressed interest in strengthening our community through their leadership and this opportunity will definitely help.”

One of those students is 17-year-old Ryder Lytle. The Grade 12 student, who lives in Kirkfield, also runs his own business.

“It’s awesome this fund is being created to help us grow and learn about how to lead and change things for the better,” Lytle says. “I’m considering taking the program and would recommend everyone check it out.”

For more information about the Rural Youth Leadership Fund, contact the Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes at info@kawarthafoundation.ca or 705-928-5953. For more information about ICL, visit www.changeleaders.ca.

Amid growing criticism about his absence, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is set to provide his first media briefing about the pandemic in over a month on Monday afternoon (April 11).

According to the Ministry of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore “will provide an update on how the province is managing COVID-19 and expanding access to antivirals” at 1 p.m. at Queen’s Park. You will be able to watch his remarks live in this story.

His last media briefing was on March 9, when he announced the lifting of the province’s mask mandate. At that time, he said he would speak publicly if the pandemic situation warranted it.

VIDEO: Ontario’s chief medical officer of health provides COVID-19 update

If you are experiencing audio issues with CPAC’s YouTube live stream, visit ola.org/en/legislative-business/video/media-studio.

However, Dr. Moore not appeared publicly since then to address the status of the pandemic, despite rising cases and rising hospitalizations largely attributed to the lifting of the mask mandate on March 21. He has also not done any interviews with media since early March.

Dr. Peter Juni, the outgoing head of the province’s COVID-19 science advisory table, said last week that wastewater surveillance data suggest the province is seeing 100,000 to 120,000 new daily cases of COVID-19.

Last Tuesday, Ontario health minister Christine Elliott said it was “Dr. Moore’s choice” not to do any interviews since his last media briefing.

“He felt that we were at the point now with the pandemic that we have the tools that we need to to learn to live with it and so that frequent representations and meetings with him aren’t necessary,” Elliott said. “If he feels that the situation changes and he wants to come back and do more frequent interviews and meetings, then he’s certainly free to do so.”

During a media conference last Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford defended Dr. Moore when a reporter asked about the chief medical officer of health’s public absence.

“He is on the job 24/7 looking at the figures, looking at the stats and giving myself and our cabinet advice and he has done an incredible job from day one,” Ford said. “I am his biggest fan.”

The Peterborough Petes’ Pink in the Rink game was held on Saturday night (April 9) at the Peterborough Memorial Centre, with the campaign raising $76,952.18 for cancer research.

The 13th annual fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, played before a season-high crowd of 3,228 fans, also saw the Petes clinch their spot in the playoffs with a 5-1 win over the Niagara IceDogs.

Petes players wore special Pink in the Rink fundraising sweaters, which were sold in a post-game live jersey auction, with forward Tucker Robertson’s game-worn jersey selling for $3,610.

Other fundraising efforts at the game included a chuck-a-ball, a silent auction, and a bucket pass, along with t-shirt sales and an online fundraiser.

Petes alumnus Doug Gibson and Global sports anchor Meaghan Roy, who were co-chairs were this year’s campaign, raising a combined total of $13,425,28.

Pink in the Rink is the top fundraising event in the Ontario Hockey League. With this year’s proceeds, Pink in the Rink has raised almost $900,000 for cancer research since 2010.