In the last few years, I feel like the transition from May to June has taken on important significance.

We are marking the two-year anniversaries of the murder of George Floyd and the police-involved death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet. One year ago, the remains of 215 children were confirmed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School and, since then, many similar confirmations have been made across Canada. One year ago, there was a racist, pre-meditated attack motivated by Islamophobia in London, Ontario.

This year, we are recovering from that devastating storm and a provincial election that included hateful acts targeted at political leaders in downtown Peterborough.

This seems like an important time of year for healing, for truth, and for coming together as a community.

I’d like to share two reflections I am carrying for myself to recognize the need for both healing and also ongoing awareness for truth and history as we move forward.

Truth and reconciliation

June is National Indigenous History Month and Tuesday, June 21st — also the summer solstice this year — is commemorated as National Indigenous Peoples Day. The goal of these federal initiatives is to take time to recognize the history, heritage, resilience, diverse cultures, and outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples across Canada.

Last year around this time, Sara Crouthers and I shared a “Summer Listening List” in the GreenUP column. That list included several important (and joyful as well as challenging) resources for listening and learning in support of truth and reconciliation.

In particular, Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is Our Territory is an oral history of the Michi Saagiig Nisnaabeg recounted by by Gidigaa Migizi (Doug Williams) of Curve Lake First Nation. I also appreciate re-listening to my audiobook of 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Robert Joseph.

As I mourn the recent death of author and activist Lee Maracle, I’m also revisiting the REDTalk that featured her and others sharing reflections on how the pandemic offers opportunities to reconnect with the ecology of Indigenous values and step towards living in balance with all living beings. You can find it below, and other REDTalks by visiting redskyperformance.com/redtalks/.

VIDEO: REDTalks – Wisdom Keeper Series with Senator Murray Sinclair and Lee Maracle

Last, but certainly not least, my kids and I are constantly re-discovering the activities in the TRACKS Activity Books created by the Trent Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Science Program.

And, to inform discussions with my kids, I am also revisiting the list of books and other resources provided by Nichol Stamp in How to discuss injustice toward Indigenous Peoples with your children, age 0-8. This is a short, easy-to-read blog post that offers age-appropriate family learning at its best when we need it most.

Racism and environmentalism

As we approach International Trails Day on June 4 and World Environment Day on June 5, it is important to reflect on how environmentalism has and continues to be connected with racism.

The early roots of the environmental movement in the 1800s are intimately connected to white male authority figures who created the pseudo-scientific foundation for white supremacy. In his book The Wizard and The Prophet, Charles C. Mann points out that many of the early white male leaders of the environmental movement “found little difference between protecting forests and cleaning up the human gene pool.”

Environmental racism describes the systems that reserve environmental privileges and exploitation for predominantly white communities, while pushing environmental contamination and damaging consequences into predominantly BIPOC communities.

Environmental racism continues today. Recent examples include: the ongoing lack of clean drinking water in First Nations communities across the country, including Curve Lake First Nation here in Peterborough; how the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba was displaced from prime farmland and in their current location they experience devastating flooding each year; and how pipelines and mining projects continue to be built on unceded Indigenous land and without consultation and consent.

Climate action isn’t only about the urgent need to reduce emissions. Just as COVID-19 hit hardest amongst racialized groups and the most vulnerable parts of our communities, so too climate change and environmental racism will continue to adversely impact racialized groups unless we build a more equitable society based in environmental justice.

That is why it is important we all learn about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are meant to be applied to our local situations such that we create communities that are not only sustainable and healthy but also equitable.

From 2019 to 2021, a local community forum coordinated by the Kawartha World Issues Centre and GreenUP identified five of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as priorities for our region: eradicating poverty, quality education, clean water and sanitation, and climate action.

The fifth sustainable development goal, prioritizing Indigenous leadership, was chosen by our community to frame and lead the other four priority action areas.

Maybe there’s something symbolic about this time of year becoming associated with a renewed need for truth, history, and healing. Maybe the long days and bright sunshine are shining a light on the work we need to be doing together. This month, and every month, please actively seek out voices that advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity in environmentalism.

Here are some resources to consider:

• Diverse Nature Collective at www.diversenaturecollective.com.
• The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has an education page with resources for youth and adults at nctr.ca/education/.
• The Legacy of Hope Foundation website offers videos of residential school survivor sharing their stories, and many other resources, at legacyofhope.ca/wherearethechildren/stories/.
• The free online course, Indigenous Canada, offered through the University of Alberta at www.ualberta.ca/admissions-programs/online-courses/indigenous-canada/.
• A special program in honour of Earth Week 2022 from the Noor Cultural Centre in Toronto, called “All Our Relations” and “Communities Like You”: An Anishinaabe-Muslim Conversation on Conceptualizing Human and Other-Than-Human Relationships, at oorculturalcentre.ca/all-our-relations-and-communities-like-you-an-anishinaabe-muslim-conversation/.
• If you want to learn more about environmental justice, visit www.intersectionalenvironmentalist.com.

Peterborough police have arrested a suspect who returned to the scene of a break and enter at Lansdowne Place Mall where $19,000 worth of necklaces, watches, and cash was stolen from a jewellery store on Monday morning (May 30).

At around 6 a.m. on Monday, officers were called to the mall after an alarm went off. After arriving, police learned a man has broken into the mall and then into the jewellery store. The man stole 83 silver necklaces (several with intricate detailing), 19 men’s and women’s Citizen brand watches, and $200 in cash, with a total value of around $19,000.

At 11 p.m. on Monday, officers received a call about another break and enter in progress at Lansdowne Place Mall. After arriving at the mall, officers located a man hiding behind a door who matched the earlier description given to police.

When taking the suspect into custody, police found several items from the earlier break and enter on his person, along with around eight grams of fentanyl. Further investigation revealed reasonable grounds for charges in connection with a break and enter on Sunday, May 29 at a business in the Lansdowne Street West and Ford Street area.

As a result, a 25-year-old Peterborough man was arrested and charged with three counts of break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence, three counts of failure to comply with a probation order, and one count of possession of a Schedule 1 substance (fentanyl). The accused man appeared in court on Tuesday.

Some of the jewellery from the break and enter on Monday morning has not been recovered. Anyone with information is asked to call Peterborough Police Crime Line at 705-876-1122 x555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca

With a few exceptions, all parks and trails in the City of Peterborough remain closed due to possible safety issues with trees damaged by the May 21st wind storm. Signage has been posted at the affected parks.

The city is strongly urging residents to respect park closures and to stay away from trees until the city can assess their condition and complete any necessary remediation work.

During inclement weather with high winds, a tree that may appear to be safe could have structural damage that poses a risk.

Nicholls Oval, Jackson Park, and Sherbrooke Woods have sustained substantial damage to treed areas.

Splash pads at Nicholls Oval, King Edward Park, and Roger’s Cove are closed as these parks have substantial debris or compromised trees that pose safety hazards, and will remain closed until forestry work and debris removal is complete.

Kinsmen Park and Barnardo Park are open, including their Splash pads.

Baseball diamonds are open at Bowers Park, Brinton Carpet, Bonnerworth North and South, Fairbairn/Poplar, Kinsmen, Milroy, Northland, Trent, Stacey Green, and Turner.

Sports fields are open at Eastgate Hogan, Eastgate Mark Forrester, Milroy, Trent, and Kinsmen. The Bonnerworth skatepark, Simcoe and Bethune basketball courts, and Legacy Bowl are also open.

Closed city parks that are reopened following assessments will be posted at peterborough.ca/stormresponse, or residents can call 705-742-7777 ext. 0 for an update.

COVID-19 immunization clinics operated by Peterborough Public Health are unavailable until next Monday (June 6), with the mass immunization clinic moving from the Healthy Planet Arena to the health unit’s offices in downtown Peterborough.

“We want to thank the City of Peterborough for allowing us to use the Healthy Planet Arena over the past two years,” says medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott in a media release. “We have been incredibly fortunate to work with the city staff and health care partners to provide over 350,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Peterborough region.”

Starting June 6, vaccinations will be available at a temporary clinic at Peterborough Public Health’s offices at 185 King Street. Residents can book appointments for the temporary clinic, but walk-in appointments will be unavailable at this time.

Residents who are seeking a vaccination this week can visit the GO-VAXX mobile clinic, which will be at Lansdowne Place Mall in Peterborough from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday (June 2). The mobile clinic have the Pfizer vaccine available for first, second, third, and booster doses (if eligible) for adults and youth aged 12 and up, as well as the pediatric Pfizer vaccine available for children aged five to 11.

Residents can also reach out to local participating pharmacies to book an appointment for their COVID-19 vaccine during this week.

For both the GO-VAXX mobile clinic and the new Peterborough Public Health clinic, residents can book appointments by calling 1-833-943-3900 or online at covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/.

Residents who wish to book an appointment at the GO-VAXX mobile clinic should specify this when calling to book an appointment.

Peterborough Public Health is working to determine a more permanent solution for the mass immunization clinic.

After making four arrests in connection with the 2020 murder of 18-year-old Alex Tobin in Omemee, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is seeking a fifth suspect.

Police have obtained a Canada-wide warrant for the arrest of 29-year-old Clinton “Trizzy” McDonald, of no fixed address, who is charged with accessory after the fact in the murder of Tobin.

Tobin was shot in his girlfriend’s apartment at 36 King Street East in Omemee on February 18, 2020 and later died in hospital.

McDonald is known to use aliases and to regularly change his physical appearance. Anyone who recognizes McDonald should not approach him but should instead contact their local police service. Police are also urging McDonald to contact legal counsel and turn himself in to the nearest police service.

Five people have now been charged in connection with Tobin’s murder.

On May 13, the OPP announced 26-year-old Jeremy Brown was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of failing to comply with the condition of a release order.

On May 27, police announced 21-year-old Dawson Tullock of Oshawa was charged with accessory after the fact (murder) and 76-year-old Oswald Brown and 31-year-old Jordan Brown, both of Ajax, with two counts each of party to the offence of failure to comply with release conditions.

Tullock was remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay on June 23.

Oswald and Jordan Brown were released from police custody and are scheduled to appear in court on June 23.

A $50,000 reward continues to be offered for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Tobin’s murder.

Anyone with information that would assist with the homicide investigation is asked to call the OPP’s dedicated tip line at 1-844-677-5020.

Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit tips online at ontariocrimestoppers.ca/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip.

Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the entire greater Kawarthas region on Wednesday (June 1).

The severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for Peterborough County, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, Haliburton County, and Hastings County.

Conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms from early Wednesday morning through the afternoon.

The storms may be capable of producing strong wind gusts up to 90 km/h, large hail, and heavy rain.

Large hail can damage property and cause injury. Strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles. Intense lightning is likely with any thunderstorm that develops. Heavy downpours are likely to cause flash floods and water pooling on roads.

Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors.

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh returned to Peterborough on Tuesday afternoon (May 31), two days before the Ontario election, to once again show his support for provincial Peterborough-Kawartha NDP candidate Jen Deck.

Singh’s return visit came almost three weeks to the day when he was aggressively accosted by a small group of protesters outside Deck’s campaign office in downtown Peterborough. The protesters’ treatment of Singh made national headlines and was roundly condemned.

Singh and Deck, along with NDP supporters and local media, gathered in front of the Peterborough Lift Lock. The event was originally scheduled to take place under the Hunter Street bridge, but was moved as a precaution after word of the original location leaked out. Two Peterborough police officers were also present in the background during the event, at the request of the local NDP.

A small group of invited supporters applauded Singh after he arrived at the Parks Canada property.

“I’m excited to be back in Peterborough,” Singh said, to more applause and cheers, before showing his support for Deck. “I know the people of Peterborough will be better served by New Democrats. We’ve shown it time and time again: when people are down and out, when they need help, New Democrats have been there for them.”

“New Democrats are the ones people are turning to for hope. They’re turning to New Democrats to lift them up, and here in Peterborough they’re turning to Jen Deck,” he added.

VIDEO: Jen Deck welcomes Jagmeet Singh back to Peterborough

After making an Indigenous land acknowledgement and noting the approaching one-year anniversary of the discovery of burial sites of Indigenous children at former residential schools, Deck addressed what happened during Singh’s previous visit.

“I really want to thank you for coming to Peterborough,” she told Singh. “I can tell you that the people of Peterborough-Kawartha were shocked and embarrassed at what took place outside of the office when you came.”

Deck pointed out that no-one is immune from the kind of hate that was on display during Singh’s previous visit.

“Even the most progressive and thoughtful and well-educated person carries within them internalized racism, homophobia, ableism, ageism, sexism — you name it,” Deck said. “We all carry that as a legacy of the world that we’ve grown up in. If we cannot acknowledge that there is hate within every single one of us, I don’t think we can truly address the issues that we’re really struggling with.”

Deck said she has spoken to many people who have expressed upset and outrage about what happened during Singh’s earlier visit, adding “I would like to think it has shaken us out of our complacency.”

After speaking with supporters, Singh then held a media conference and took questions.

VIDEO: Jagmeet Singh comments on his first visit to Peterborough

“I’ve had many great experiences in Peterborough, so I wasn’t going to let one isolated incident in any way discourage me from coming back,” he said. “Jen Deck and the team wanted me to come back and I wanted to come back myself, so it was both of those things.”

Singh went on to say the NDP is offering solutions to address the housing crisis, home affordability, and investments in health care.

“Jen is going to be a strong voice for you in Queen’s Park. I’ll continue to fight for you at the federal level.”

Singh mentioned NDP provincial leader Andrea Horwath’s plan for mental health coverage under OHIP, working with the federal NDP on a national dental care program to bring in a provincial one as well, as well as a pharmacare program.

When asked if he was aware Peterborough mayor Diane Therrien and city council resolved on Monday night to invite him back to Peterborough, Singh said he was “honoured.”

“First of all, I accept — of course — the invitation,” Singh said. “I will definitely be back. I hope we get a chance to meet with more folks from Peterborough and the Kawartha area, get to hear their concerns, chat with them, and let them know I’m here to listen and her to fight for the solutions that you need, to fight to get you the help that you need. And that’s what you can count on, not just with me as leader but with Jen as your local representative.”

Singh’s stop in Peterborough, which was only announced earlier today, came as the federal leader was on his way to Ottawa to support provincial Ottawa Centre NDP candidate Joel Harden. Earlier in the day, he was in Oshawa for the ground-breaking of Ed Broadbent Waterfront Park, named after former long-time federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent who also attended that event.

Singh said he was happy to be in Peterborough again to support Deck and to meet with volunteers, and he had some words of praise for Peterborough.

“It’s very beautiful,” Singh said, gesturing towards the Peterborough Lift Lock. “I think you all are very lucky to have such a beautiful city — not just the canal and the infrastructure behind me, but the large downtown core. There’s lots of food shops. I actually stopped by a vegetarian restaurant, of which there’s a couple in the city, which is quite exciting.”

Singh also had praise for Deck.

“Jen is an incredible communicator,” he said. “If you’ve ever spoken to Jen, she really cares about people, hears their concerns.”

Singh returned to the May 11 incident in response to a reporter’s question.

“What happened when I was first here, in terms of the folks that were in front of the office, that’s not representative of Peterborough,” Singh said. “There are people that are genuinely frustrated and angry, and I think we have to listen to that frustration. People are upset about a lot of things — it’s hard to get by, things are harder and harder to afford — I think these are some of the frustrations.”

“But some of the folks there were anti-public health folks that don’t believe in some of the public health measures that we need to take. And they’re entitled to their position, but they don’t represent Peterborough.”

Singh expressed concerns about the “toxicity” in behaviour and language intended to harass or intimidate people — particularly its impact on those who may be considering going into politics.

“I worry about what that says to maybe to a new politician or a young person who wants to be a leader, and to people that are marginalized,” he said. “Women are often not represented in politics the way they should be. I worry that those type of intimidating and harassing events will discourage young people.”

“I’m not going to be discouraged, but it shouldn’t be that you have to be a martial artist or trained in being able to fight to be able to be comfortable in the public sphere.”

It should be noted that Singh is himself a trained martial artist. He was bullied as a child and began training to defend himself, later winning the Toronto championships in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

“People should be able to protest, to dissent, but it should not come to the point where someone is going to be intimidated or harassed or afraid to come forward because they don’t want to deal with that,” Singh said. “That to me is an eroding of our democracy, and something that I worry about.”

Branches and brush from the May 21st storm that are piled on residential boulevards in the City of Peterborough will be removed by city crews, but it may take at least another month before this happens.

At the Peterborough city council meeting on Monday night (May 30), council directed the city to allocate resources and equipment to manage and remove green waste debris from private property.

However, that work will begin after the city has removed storm debris from city-owned property. including right-of-ways, streets, sidewalks, trails, and parks.

The city estimates it may be four to six weeks before green waste debris can be collected from residential boulevards. Council is asking residents to remain patient while the city manages resources for the clean-up effort.

To assist residents cleaning up their properties, city council also decided to waive the fees for disposal of tree branches and brush at the Peterborough landfill on Bensfort Road until June 30. Previously, there was a fee of $7 for 100 kilograms or less of green waste, or $95 per tonne for an entire load.

The city has also opened a fee-free temporary drop-off site at 425 Kennedy Road where residents can dispose of tree branches and brush.