Thousands of community, health, and social services workers represented by OPSEU/SEFPO are entering the fourth week of their province-wide strike, as the union continues to demand retroactive funding from the Ontario government for community and social service agencies.

“We’ve been trying to do everything we can to stay off strike, but the government wasn’t taking us seriously,” said Jessica Bushey, president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 358, which represents more than 300 full-time and part-time developmental service workers employed by Community Living Trent Highlands (CLTH) in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton County.

On Friday (June 12), Bushey spoke to kawarthaNOW from the picket line outside the CTLH’s Peterborough office at 223 Aylmer Street North, surrounded by a large crowd of loud supporters and clear support from passing cars.

Local developmental services workers are part of province-wide strike

CLTH provides services to people with intellectual disability as a primary diagnosis, including child and youth services, housing support, and day programs. The Trent Highlands agency is one of 125 Community Living organizations in Ontario, with each primarily funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.

In November 2019, the Ford government passed Bill 123, which imposed a one per cent limit on pay increases for public sector workers between 2020 and 2023. Public sector workers, labour activists, and community members from all walks of life have spoken out against this bill since its inception.

“These guys work so hard — they care for people that need their assistance all the time — and it’s just unfair the way this government and the employer has been treating them,” said Betty Cree, president of OPSEU Provincial Retired Members Division, as she joined CLTH staff on the picket line.

In November 2022, Bill 124 was repealed following a ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that it was unconstitutional. This ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in February 2024.

Following union-led bargaining across public service sectors, the Ontario government provided some retroactive funding was to offset the impact of Bill 124. However, to date, the government has provided no retroactive funding to organizations and professionals in the community and social service sectors.

Bushey said the current strike is a direct response to the lack of funding received by these sectors.

“This is how we’ve had to apply pressure so that they negotiate with us and give us back what was stolen,” said Bushey.

Union campaign seeks retroactive wage increases and stable future funding

Local 358 is part of OPSEU’s provincial-wide “Worth Fighting For” campaign, joining 26 other OPSEU local units on strike representing over 4,000 public service workers.

In addition to developmental service workers, the campaign also represents those working in public service sectors including child and youth services, shelters, and mental health and addictions.

“We’re part of a huge historic labour movement. We couldn’t do this on our own,” Bushey said of the importance of joining other OPSEU local units in strike action.

On it Worth Fighting For campaign website, OPSEU states that its has two primary goals in this initiative, the first being “justice for stolen wages” in reference to the reduced compensation increases due to the one per cent cap. In particular, OPSEU is seeking alignment with compensation provided to other public service sectors.

Bushey told kawarthaNOW about impacts experienced by developmental services workers due to Bill 124 legislation, saying that many union members — including those at the top of the pay scale — are forced to work multiple jobs, including non-professional roles outside of the sector.

“We have (union) members who are working multiple jobs, having to go to the food bank, or having to move back home with their parents because our wages haven’t kept up,” said Bushey.

Further to this, Bushey said it is significant that the employee demographic in sectors and organizations that did not receive retroactive pay increases is overwhelming made up of women and immigrants.

“I don’t think it should be overlooked that the workers are new Canadians and women,” Bushey said. “I think that it’s purposeful.”

Bushey added that gender inequity is clear in the funding distribution following Bill 124, noting that sectors such as probation and parole and the liquor control board (LCBO) were provided with retroactive funding.

“I don’t think that’s a mistake by the Ontario government,” Bushey said. “They paid their own workers (first).”

The second goal OPSEU outlines on its website is “funding for the future of our services,” identifying the need for an increase in core funding to prevent cuts to jobs and services as well as to protect the continuity of care for service users.

Bushey said that inadequate funding for community and social services programs has direct impacts on clients and outcomes. New research from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives showed that funding for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services has dropped 2.4 per cent over the past year.

“The people we support might have a budget of $14 a day for food. That’s preposterous,” said Bushey.

Union is concerned about privatization of developmental services

Another concern Bushey expressed was about the increased privatization of public services in Ontario, saying it could leading to potential worse outcomes for clients through lack of oversight and standardisation.

For Bushey, people with disabilities and their caregivers are currently being forced to choose between affordability and quality of care. She said further that for many people they have spent many years with little to no support and this leads them to choosing low-cost private options.

“But if I’m that desperate, why wouldn’t I go private?” Bushey asks.

In 2021, the Ontario government released Journey to Belonging: Choice and Inclusion, its long-term reform plan for developmental services in the province. Critics have argued that the plan’s shift from a direct non-profit model to an individualized funding model, where individuals and families manage their own funding, favours the for-profit sector.

Although private care options are often less costly, Bushey said, there may be fewer regulations for the provider and the care given. She noted that staff members at CLTH and similar organizations are trained or registered professionals typically with extensive education.

“Journey To Belonging sounds like this lovely person-centred thing, but it’s privatization of our public services at the end of the day,” said Bushey.

Community Living Trent Highlands asks union local to resume contract negotiations

With respect to OPSEU’s job action, CLTH released a statement on Thursday (June 11) that its management team was inviting Local 358 to the bargaining table.

“While we certainly are aware of the union’s province-wide efforts to seek a retroactive increase from the provincial government, we’re committed to supporting and further strengthening our relationship with Local 358 and their members in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton,” said CLTH executive director Teresa Jordan.

“Yesterday I reached out to the union’s local leadership and asked them back to the table to finish negotiating a mutually agreeable contract at the local level … I asked the union to meet us because we believe this is the best way to settle this strike and get people back to work.”

But for Bushey, the strike is about more than the contract signed at CLTH. Without an agreement from the province to provide retroactive and stable future funding, she said, CLTH does not have the capacity to meet the needs or demands of union members.

“We are willing to talk to the employer. However, they haven’t received funding for Bill 124. They don’t have what we need,” she said.

Bushey added that CLTH has chosen not to make a statement in support of OPSEU’s demands of the province. She considers this a barrier to Local 358 reaching an agreement, as the union’s demands are reliant upon retroactive Bill 124 funding.

“They’re not willing to help us get the funding,” said Bushey. “We’re not really sure why they’re perpetuating this, as if we’re ignoring them, when they know what our fight is about.”

Rhonda Gilchrist is the new executive director of The Mount Community Centre, a non-profit charitable organization providing affordable housing and working to support food security, effective Monday (June 15).

Gilchrist is joining The Mount from the United Way of Peterborough and District, where she has worked for almost nine years as senior director of operations and revenue generation.

“Rhonda joins the organization at an exciting time,” said Stephen Kylie, chair of The Mount’s board of directors, in a media release. “We have ambitious mission and fundraising goals and she will be responsible for advancing (The Mount’s) mandate and to operationalize the core functions and achieve the overall objectives of our organization to bring it to the next level.”

Gilchrist replaces previous executive director Arshed Bhatti, who was hired in January 2024. After Bhatti’s departure last October, the board launched a search for a new executive director using the firm Crawford Connect. Interviewing four potential candidates from almost 100 applications, the board unanimously approved a recommendation to hire Gilchrist on April 27.

“We are confident that Rhonda possesses the combination of experience and specialized skills in non-profit housing, government funding, knowledge of the community, and vision that will help our organization reach new heights,” Kylie said.

Gilchrist has over 13 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including over eight years in a senior management role. At the United Way, she was responsible for all financial operations, annual and monthly financial statements, monitored project milestones, and led the successful roll-out and maintenance of the organizational database. She has also been activity involved in volunteer activities with Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes.

“The opportunity at (The Mount) is a very rare opportunity and their mission to reduce poverty and develop community aligns with my hopes for our community, Gilchrist said. “With the recent purchase of the Village on Argyle property and the proposed new build on Monaghan Road, I look forward to the exciting responsibility of expanding services to help make lasting positive changes in the lives of our low income community members and the impact it will make in our community.”

The Mount Community Centre at 1545 Monaghan Road, originally called The Mount St. Joseph, began as a motherhouse for the Peterborough Sisters of St. Joseph in early 1895. In 2013, the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network purchased the property with the goal of renovating it for affordable housing, transferring ownership to a newly incorporated not-for-profit corporation and renaming the property The Mount Community Centre.

The first 43 affordable apartments opened in the fall of 2016, with 36 more apartments built since then. The Mount is also home to several non-residential tenants, a state-of-the-art food centre, and assembly rooms for community use. Last December, The Mount took ownership of a six-acre property at 780 Argyle Street known as the Village on Argyle, which it plants to develop into a community hub for affordable housing and non-profit health and social services agencies.

Police have charged a 45-year-old Peterborough woman with second-degree murder following an investigation into the sudden death of her 74-year-old mother on Tuesday (June 9).

Just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, police were called to the area of the London Street footbridge on the east side of the Otonabee River about a woman in the water.

After arriving at the scene, officers pulled the woman out of the water and attempted life-saving measures. The woman was taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre where she was pronounced dead.

Although police did not consider the death suspicious at the time, all sudden deaths are reviewed by the Major Crime Unit. After further investigation and follow-up, police arrested and charged the victim’s daughter on Friday (June 12).

Sarah-Jayne Maier, 45, is facing a second degree murder charge in connection to the death of her mother, 74-year-old Susan Maier of Peterborough.

The accused woman is being held in police custody and will appear in court on Saturday.

Police are asking anyone who may have been on the Rotary Trail on the afternoon of Tuesday between 4 and 5:30 p.m. to contact them at at 705-876-1122 ext. 555. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at stopcrimehere.ca.

On Tuesday night (June 9), Peterborough mayoral candidate Neil Morton hosted the first of five “working sessions” asking for feedback from residents on his key policy areas and goals for office.

Morton is one of five people who have filed nomination papers to run for the office of mayor in the October municipal election in Peterborough, with the others being Michael Eamon, Jacob Méthot, incumbent Ashburnham Ward councillor Keith Riel, and Rebecca Schillemat. Incumbent mayor Jeff Leal is expected to announce this month whether he will be seeking re-election.

Entitled “Together, We Will Modernize Civic Engagement,” Tuesday’s event took place at the Peterborough Animal Care Centre at 1999 Technology Drive, which is in Ashburnham Ward.

Session focused on issues related to integrity, transparency, and accountability

Morton’s campaign has planned other policy-related sessions in the city’s remaining four wards over the coming weeks, with additional topics including economic development, taxes and affordability, downtown revitalization, and social issues including addiction, mental health, and homelessness.

“We’re at a pivotal moment in the history of this city,” said Morton at Tuesday night’s event, noting a commitment to transparency and communication throughout his campaign, including via these listening sessions.

Over six months ago, when Morton began his self-described “100 Coffees” engagement initiative, he highlighted the importance of hearing from a wide cross-section of residents and local stakeholders, and noted his willingness to hear “hard truths” about Peterborough.

Describing himself as someone who “tells it like it is”, Morton said his values of transparency and communication are representative of how he intends to operate if elected mayor.

“This is what we’ll do when I win,” Morton told kawarthaNOW.

Concerns raised about limits on public delegations and timing

At Tuesday night’s session, a small but eager group of local residents and Morton loyalists began by discussing the issue of citizen delegations at city council meetings, which are currently limited to four registered speakers per agenda item with each delegate speaking for no more than five minutes.

Gord Halsey, who has previously appeared as a delegate before council, said that council’s February decision to limit the number of delegations interferes with the democratic process and reduces opportunities for the public to be involved in decision making.

“I think it needs to go back to where it was truly democratic,” said Halsey.

One of the reasons council decided to limit the number of public delegations per agenda item was because of the impact on the length of council meetings, especially during meetings with heavy agendas. In February, council considered a change to its procedure by-law that would have limited the total number of delegations to 10 for each council meeting, instead of the previous limit of 10 delegations for each topic or report on a council agenda.

After hearing from several public delegations objecting to the proposed limit, notably former mayor Diane Therrien-Hale, councillors backed off the 10-delegations-per-meeting limit and voted to allow four delegations per agenda item.

For Halsey and other attendees at Tuesday night’s event, the reduction in public delegations reflects a trend by the incumbent council of treating community input as secondary to decision making. Halsey spoke of his experience giving delegations at council and being met with blank faces and little to no response from council members or the mayor.

Further to this, attendees proposed that public delegations should take place be given further ahead of the council meeting when voting occurs.

Morton agreed with attendees that council hearing delegations close to the vote does not represent transparent decision making and argued that it encourages councillors to make decisions in large part without hearing constituent feedback.

“It does look like they’re going through the motions when you watch it on TV,” Morton noted.

Another participant, who noted that he lives in Peterborough’s East City, also said public feedback should be happening earlier in the decision-making process. In particular, he identified the proposed 17-storey apartment building beside Mark Street United Church in East City and the pickleball courts at Bonnerworth Park as examples of what he considers a lack of timely public engagement.

“You go to those meetings and you realize people are so far down the decision-making cycle, they pretty much have their minds made up,” he said.

He further said that early involvement would allow neighbourhoods to be involved in determining suitability and need while preserving the quality of life for existing residents.

Increasing civic engagement through better communication at City Hall

Morton, who has a background in journalism and communications, spoke throughout the event about the topic of communications as a key aspect of both his campaign and potential mayoralty.

He explained that intentional communications are vital to ensuring that residents know what is going on in their community and have an understanding of how they can be involved in decision-making processes or how to have their voices heard.

“Early in the process you have to make constituents feel like they’re active stakeholders in decision-making, and the way to do that is to be super transparent early on,” Morton said.

Another participant, Betsy Healey, said she believed every City of Peterborough department should have a dedicated communications staff member whose responsibility is to keep the general public informed and engaged.

“That transparency, that involvement, makes people feel that they are valued and respected and that their input is meaningful,” she added.

Morton also shared some of his ideas for increased communications at City Hall, including podcasts and YouTube series with human-centric content.

“I’ve seen other municipalities do that — where you take people behind the scenes and you interview the staff and you interview the people on the frontline that are doing stuff that you’re paying your taxes for,” Morton explained.

Morton said he considers open communication to be at the forefront of what he would bring to City Hall as mayor and that his “transparent, authentic, and accountable” mindset will build positive relationships between city staff, councillors, and residents.

Jessica Correa, a candidate for city councillor in Otonabee Ward who joined the session as a participant, spoke about her value of “meeting people where they are at,” in spaces they already occupy and in communities with which they are familiar.

“I think we need to show up where people are,” Correa said. “If you want to know how the parks are, go to the park and ask people at the park.”

To this end, Morton workshopped his idea of hosting mayoral office hours, where residents could speak directly with the mayor on a regular basis. The Morton campaign identified the ability to discuss ideas in such a way as central to why they are hosting the working sessions.

Building a culture of trust between citizens and City Hall

For some of the participants at Tuesday night’s event, including Jan Fialkowski and Blair Armitage, civic engagement can be bolstered by the presence of neighbourhood associations that collaborate with the city and form strong relationships with staff and councillors.

“One of our chairs of the resident association was able, almost single-handedly, to save a pool that council was going to demolish,” said Fialkowski of her experience living with formalized neighbourhood associations, known as resident councils, in the City of New Westminster in B.C.

Armitage spoke about the importance of residents having a relationship with city staff and councillors, saying it is vital to building trust within the community.

“Back in the day, I knew every mayor,” Armitage said. “You saw them at Smitty’s. Today, I don’t know who they are.”

Event attendees also spoke at length about the importance creating a culture of respect at City Hall both between councillors and with the treatment of residents.

Morton said that his standards and expectations for respect would be based on accountability and collaboration.

“I 100 per cent believe that we’re going to liberate City Hall,” Morton said. “We’re going to get out of people’s way. And I 100 per cent think I can create a great culture there.”

The Morton campaign is sharing the results of each policy session on its website at www.mortonformayor.ca/community_input, including the 26 ideas related to integrity, transparency, and accountability that were generated at Tuesday night’s event.

kawarthaNOW’s coverage of municipal election candidates is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement of any candidate, campaign, or platform.