Peterborough Petes general manager Michael Oke (middle) presents Pink in the Rink honorary co-chairs Meaghan Roy and Doug Gibson with their jerseys. The 13th annual fundraising games, which aims to raise $50,000 the Canadian Cancer Society, takes place on April 9, 2022 when the Petes face off against the Niagara IceDogs. (Photo: Peterborough Petes)
During a media event on Tuesday (March 15) at the Peterborough Memorial Centre, the Peterborough Petes revealed the jerseys that will be worn at this year’s Pink in the Rink game for the Canadian Cancer Society.
The 13th annual fundraiser, originally scheduled for February 5, will take place on Saturday, April 9th when the Petes face off against the Niagara IceDogs at 7:05 p.m.
The fundraising goal for this year’s game is $50,000, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society. There was no game in 2021 because of the pandemic, but the campaign still went ahead, raising almost $24,000.
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Petes general manager Michael Oke also presented honorary co-chairs Doug Gibson and Meaghan Roy with their jerseys during Tuesday’s media event.
Gibson played three seasons with the Petes from 1971 to 1973, breaking Mickey Redmond’s goal-scoring mark and competing in the 1972 Memorial Cup final. Roy is Global Peterborough’s sports anchor, beginning her career at CHEX TV in 2007 as a part-time news reporter and becoming the station’s first female sports anchor in 2014.
This year’s game jersey, which features a colour combination of pink and maroon and has the breast cancer ribbon draped across the front and back of the jersey, also has the Canadian Cancer Society patch on the left shoulder and a patch honouring late Petes alumnus and Peterborough media figure Gary “Diller” Dalliday on the right shoulder.
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The names of family and friends who battled cancer are also marked throughout the front and back design. These names were purchased by Peterborough community members, with 100 per cent of the proceeds donated to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Fans must purchase tickets to participate in the live jersey auction, which will be held immediately following the April 9th game.
A Pink in the Rink t-shirt and ticket bundle is available in the Petes store for $30. Fans who already have their tickets and would also like a t-shirt can purchase them for $15 at Petes games or online.
Fans can also use promo code ‘PINK’ when purchasing tickets online for a portion of their purchase to be donated back. There will also be a cash-only bucket pass throughout the game to collect additional funds that will be used towards women’s cancer research.
Since 2010, Pink in the Rink has raised more than $812,099 for women’s cancer research through the Canadian Cancer Society Peterborough & District, making it the top fundraising event in the Ontario Hockey League.
Peterborough city council has rejected a proposal to protect a corridor for a possible future two-lane bridge over the Otonabee River connecting Sherbrooke Street in downtown Peterborough to Maria Street in East City. The Eastside Transportation Study also recommended widening Maria Street to four lanes (including the swing bridge) and extending Maria Street to Television Road. (kawarthaNOW modification of Google Maps photo)
Peterborough city council doesn’t want a new bridge to be built across the Otonabee River linking East City to downtown Peterborough.
Councillors have rejected a proposal to protect a corridor for a possible future bridge connecting Maria Street to Sherbrooke Street, which was one of the recommendations of the city’s Eastside Transportation Study, a 30-year plan costed at $209 million for road network improvements in the east side of the city.
Council reviewed the study’s recommendations during a general committee meeting on Monday (March 14).
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That proposal also included the potential widening of Sherbrooke Street to four lanes from George Street to Millennium Park, the potential widening of Maria Street to four lanes, the potential widening of the Maria Street swing bridge across the Trent Canal to four lanes, and the potential extension of Maria Street east from Walker Avenue to Television Road.
The total cost of the proposal was estimated at $81.7 million.
During its public consultation process, the project team for the Eastside Transportation Study heard concerns from residents about the proposed Sherbrooke Street to Maria Street connection, including impacts on private property and existing trails, increased vehicular traffic in the area, pedestrian safety, impediments for existing pedestrian and cyclist-friendly space, and parkland reduction.
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Despite those concerns, the proposed Sherbrooke Street to Maria Street connection remained as a recommendation to council.
“The Sherbrooke Street to Maria Street connection was found to be the only option that could provide the required network capacity for the expected growth in the East City Area,” reads a staff report to general committee members.
“It would provide a new continuous Arterial Road connection across the City, would serve as an alternative route for truck access into the downtown and reliable transit service to East City, would take traffic away from Hunter Street allowing this corridor to evolve in a more pedestrian, cyclist and business friendly manner, and would reduce traffic infiltration on the north-south roads connecting Maria Street to Hunter Street.”
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Although council endorsed in principle all of the study’s other recommendations, they decided to remove the recommendation for the Sherbrooke Street to Maria Street connection and extension.
The other recommendations in the study include $10.5 million of intersection improvements at Parkhill Road East and Armour Road, Parkhill Road East and Television Road, Old Norwood Road and Television Road, Paul Rexe Boulevard and Television Road, Maria Street and Armour Road, and Lansdowne Street East and Ashburnham Drive, and $177 million for 10 road projects including widening Television Road to four lanes from Lansdowne Street East to Parkhill Road, widening Parkhill Road East to four lanes from Water Street to Leahy’s Lane, widening Ashburnham Drive to five lanes from Lansdowne Street East to Maria Street, and constructing a new two-lane bridge across the Trent Canal on McFarlane Street.
Future councils would determine the pace of implementing the study’s recommendations over the next 30 years.
City council will consider items endorsed by general committee for final approval at its meeting on Monday, March 28th.
A model displays the best-selling Katy Romper from Rosie and Faith, an online women's and children's clothing shop owned and operated by best friends Megan Carr and Kelly Winslow. Rosie and Faith has launched a "Real Beauties" Facebook group to promote inclusivity and a positive body image. (Photo: Rosie and Faith)
“You are more than the size on your clothing tag,” says Megan Carr, who owns and operates the online women’s and children’s clothing shop Rosie and Faith with her best friend Kelly Winslow.
The pair of entrepreneurs is helping to change the way women perceive themselves when it comes to clothing, by promoting inclusivity and a positive body image. To help do that, Rosie and Faith is hosting a “Real Beauties” event at Peterborough Yoga Wellness Centre on Saturday afternoon (March 19).
“It’s a free photo shoot opportunity for ladies of all shapes and sizes to come and feel confident and fabulous in front of the camera,” Carr tells kawarthaNOW.
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The event grew from a Facebook group called Rosie & Faith’s Real Beauties that Carr created in January when she put out a call for models to wear Rosie and Faith’s women’s romper.
“It’s become a group for all women, of all walks of life and shapes and sizes to gather, to discuss what they are looking for in their clothing,” Carr explains. “As I am growing the line from the ground up, there is much opportunity for discussion and fine tuning, and my biggest focus group has been these women.”
With the group growing daily — it now has more than 470 members — Carr decided to offer the free photo shoot event, where women will have the chance to come in clothing of their choice and receive two free digital photos taken by photographer Martina O’Reilly, along with a swag bag. Both Rosie and Faith and Peterborough-based baby shop Soleil Baby will also be selling products at the event.
The “Real Beauties” event at Peterborough Yoga Wellness Centre on March 19, 2022 is a free photo shoot for women of all shapes and sizes. (Graphic: Rosie and Faith)
“The aim of the event and my group has been to start the conversation about women and how they feel about their bodies,” Carr says. “There has been much discussion about lack of general confidence coming from these women, and we are going to change that.”
One of the changes Carr is planning is how Rosie and Faith’s clothing sizes are labelled.
“Our sizes range from XS to 4XL but we are not going to be settling for those labels,” she explains. “Instead we are changing the way we label clothing in our brand, by using words of affirmation to describe what would usually be a size. You may see the word ‘beautiful’ for an XS or ‘confident’ for a 4XL instead of the regular size on the clothing tag.”
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Carr and Winslow launched their clothing business over two years ago, starting with a romper for newborns. Since then, their Kayla Romper — named after Winslow’s daughter — has become their best seller.
Carr, who has a 10-month-old daughter herself, became acutely aware of body image issues after she became pregnant.
“When I became pregnant with my daughter I gained over 50 pounds and started to discover a different tribe of women who had also gained baby weight,” she recalls. “It then made me realize that just because I have gained this weight does not make me less of a person — in fact it makes me, and many other women, strong. We made a safe home for our babies for nine months and that is something to celebrate.”
Best friends Megan Carr and Kelly Winslow launched their online clothing business Rosie and Faith more than two years ago. (Photo: Rosie and Faith)
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That led Carr to begin pivoting the Rosie and Faith brand with “real women” in mind.
“My motto through all of this is, ‘Do you have a body?’ — meaning there is no perfect or imperfect body,” she says. “Every body is worth it, and women need to know this and carry this mantra with them.”
The “Real Beauties” event takes place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 19th at Peterborough Yoga Wellness Centre, which is located at 107 Hunter Street East in Peterborough’s East City, in the Subway plaza on the southeast corner of Hunter and Mark Street. The entrance is in the parking lot in the back, but there is limited parking there so Carr recommends people park on Mark or Hunter Street.
Some of the members of the Peterborough Singers singing the national anthem of Ukraine during a choir rehearsal on March 8, 2022. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of YouTube video)
The Peterborough Singers have paid tribute to the people of Ukraine by singing the country’s national anthem.
At the choir’s rehearsal last Tuesday (March 8), artistic director Syd Birrell led the choir in learning and then performing the anthem.
The choir sang in Ukrainian, accompanied by organ and piano.
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“We handed out the music, we practised the words, we rehearsed the melody, and then with the cameras rolling we rose and sang the Ukrainian national anthem,” Birrell says. “We gave it our all. And we wept.”
You can watch the performance below.
The lyrics of the Ukrainian national anthem (translated to English) have special resonance given the Russian invasion:
The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished
Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians.
Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine
And we, too, brothers, we’ll live happily in our land.
We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom
and we’ll prove that we brothers are of Kozak kin.
VIDEO: Peterborough Singers sing the Ukraine National Anthem
Public Energy is presenting Montreal transdisciplinary artist Alexis O'Hara solo show OUFF at Peterborough's Market Hall on March 24, 2022. The performance combines cabaret, spoken word, stand-up comedy, electronic music, video projection, and giant inflatable sculptures to deliver a message that will make you both laugh and squirm in your seat. (Photo courtesy of Public Energy)
Public Energy presents OUFF by Alexis O’Hara
When: Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. Where: Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte Street, Peterborough) How much: Pick-your-own price
Tickets available at tickets.markethall.org. Mature content advisory: This performance is recommended for ages 12+. The performance will also be livestreamed.
Something completely different is coming to the stage at Peterborough’s Market Hall on Thursday, March 24th when Public Energy Performing Arts presents Alexis O’Hara’s OUFF.
The Montreal transdisciplinary artist’s solo performance, which premiered in 2019 at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines in Montreal, combines cabaret, spoken word, stand-up comedy, and electronic music — along with larger-than-life video projection and giant inflatable sculptures created by her collaborator Atom Cianfarani — to deliver a message that will make you both laugh and squirm in your seat.
Covering themes of white privilege, late-stage capitalism, and perimenopause, OUFF is described as “the heaviest of sighs … a spectacle of confrontation by a solitary but fragmented femme negotiating her own role, as victim and victor, pawn and princess in a commodity-crazed-brink-of-collapse world propped up by the violent dominance of whiteness.”
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“Ouff” (or “ouf”), which is the French equivalent of the English interjection “phew”, also has another meaning in verlan, a common French form of slang that involves mixing the letters in a word to create a new word with a similar meaning — in this case, “fou”, the French word for “crazy.”
“O’Hara’s double-wigged blonde white woman is a high-camp familiar figure spewing emotional excuses and social-media hashtags,” writes Robyn Fadden in a review of the 2019 performance. “She’s an angry, complicated mess we can’t take our eyes off of, whether she’s stuffing her elasticized dress full of balloons or posing selfie-like in video projections. Her confounded rage triggers a full-blown noisy, fleshy outburst across and beyond the stage.”
O’Hara’s hard-hitting performance in OUFF follows the French theatre tradition of “bouffon”, a style of performance work whose main focus is the art of mockery — one which in part has inspired British actor and satirist Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm).
VIDEO: Digital remix of OUFF for CBC Arts featuring Alexis O’Hara
“Set in an unsafe place between satire, observational comedy and scathing social commentary, OUFF makes us laugh, contemplate and cringe a little as an audience, not quite sure we’re in
on the joke or even want to hear the kernels of truth that make it work,” Fadden writes.
Born in Ottawa, O’Hara has been a transdisciplinary artist for 25 years who has presented work in Scotland, Austria, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Ireland, Slovenia, Australia, Finland, Denmark, Brazil, Monaco, Serbia, Switzerland, the U.S. and across Canada. O’Hara and her drag king alter ego, Guizo LaNuit, are pillars of the Montreal cabaret scene. O’Hara has also published a book of poetry, released a number of solo music albums, and exhibited sound and sculpture installations in North America, Europe, and Latin America.
“We haven’t seen an artist like Alexis O’Hara in Public Energy’s 27 years,” says Public Energy’s executive director Bill Kimball.
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O’Hara will perform OUFF one night only, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 24th, at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St, Peterborough). Curated by Patti Shaughnessy, the show runs for 75 minutes and includes a 15-minute question-and-answer session following the show. This performance is recommended for audience members 12 years and older due to mature content.
In recognition that this is a time of particular financial difficulty for many, and with a goal of eliminating cost as a barrier to attending the performing arts, Public Energy has instituted a pick-your-own-price policy for the show. Tickets are available online at tickets.markethall.org. If you’re not yet ready to attend an in-person performance, the show is also being livestreamed through Market Hall.
On the day after her performance, O’Hara will be leading a sound production workshop for female, female-identified, and non-binary artists. “Noise School for Feminists” runs from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 25th in the lecture hall at Sadleir House (751 George St. N., Peterborough).
Alexis O’Hara’s performance of OUFF at Peterborough’s Market Hall on March 24, 2022 includes larger-than-life video projection and giant inflatable sculptures created by her collaborator Atom Cianfarani. (Photo courtesy of Public Energy)
At this workshop, designed to approach live and recorded sound production from a creative and collaborative standpoint, O’Hara will help demystify a basic technical set-up for live and recorded sound production in a series of collaborative exercises to unleash audio creativity.
Peterborough native John Freeman, 51, and his dog Mira (known as "Mira La Perra" on social media), bike around 100 kilometres a day through all kinds of terrain and weather. Together they're planning to visit all seven continents by bike over the next six years, taking brief breaks in between trips to return home to Alberta. (Photo: John Freeman / Instagram)
Peterborough-area native John Freeman is continuing an epic six-year cycling trip around the world with his dog, hoping to inspire others to embrace life.
The 51-year-old resident of Canmore, Alberta and his border collie-heeler mix Mira, who’s almost five years old, are preparing to make their way through Central and South America.
After they complete that leg of the journey, they will head back home to Alberta to plan for the next leg through Antarctica, although Mira won’t be able to join Freeman in Antarctica due to travel restrictions. After that, they plan to head east to explore Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
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“I’ve taken months-long trips before, but this adventure is much larger and more encompassing than anything I’ve done,” Freeman says in a media release. “It’s 80 pounds of gear, plus Mira, and camping in all kinds of weather. It will take resilience, but it will be a life-changing experience and I know Mira will keep me going.”
The pair travel around 100 kilometres daily, stopping in towns and villages along the way. Freeman posts photos and videos of his and Mira’s adventures — including meeting locals, camping, bike repairs, and more — on Instagram @mira_la_perra and YouTube @OmniTierra.
“She loves the running and meeting new people,” Freeman says of Mira. “When she’s in her crate on the bike, she takes in the world like a dog with her head out a car window.”
VIDEO: John Freeman and Mira’s Dogpacking World Tour
Through his Patreon and sponsorships, Freeman hopes to raise funds for portions of his trip, especially for the Antarctica expedition which will be especially daunting and costly.
Freeman says people tell him that the pair’s journey has been inspiring, especially during the pandemic.
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“Some are feeling trapped by COVID or are having a tough time at work, and to see Mira so happy, it gives them a breath of fresh air,” Freeman says. “I feel very lucky to be able to do this and share it with others.”
A certified alpine guide who works as a rope access supervisor specializing in mountain safety and rope access training when he’s not cycling, Freeman has more than a decade of experience with road, track, and MTB bike racing. He began travelling on his bike through different countries many years ago, first with his late dog Melon and then with Mira when she was three months old.
“I enjoy seeing the world and different cultures and different people, in these remote and beautiful places you can only access on a bicycle,” Freeman says. “I want to show viewers that it’s never too late to embark on your own journey, no matter how old you are. Maybe I’ll inspire them to explore somewhere new.”
John and Mira visiting Peterborough native and cyclist Chloë Black at her Arizona home. Chloë and John used to race together when they were teenagers in Peterborough. (Photo: Chloë Black)
Carl Oake, who founded the Carl Oake Rotary Swim in 1987, congratulating his daughter Renee Oake after she completed 156 lengths at the 36th annual swim on February 25, 2022, which has raised over $50,000 in support of the Rotary Club of Peterborough projects and Easter Seals. (Photo: Rotary Club of Peterborough / Facebook)
This year’s Carl Oake Rotary Swim has raised more than $50,000 so far in support of Rotary Club of Peterborough projects and Easter Seals.
Donations will continue to be collected until Friday (March 18) at carloakerotaryswim.com.
After going virtual last year due to the pandemic, the 36th annual swim was held in person on February 25 at the YMCA of Central East Ontario. The swim saw more than 50 swimmers and volunteers participating, with 12 teams swimming sponsored laps from 7 to 9 a.m.
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The event was founded in 1987 by real estate broker and Rotary member Carl Oake. Now 76, he last swam in the 2017 event. His three daughters have since carried on the tradition, with Renee Oake completing 156 lengths in an hour for this year’s swim.
Since it began, the annual charity swim has raised over $1.3 million for Rotary projects and Easter Seals.
The 50th annual Easter Seals Telethon in Peterborough takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 10th at the YourTV studio. It will be broadcast on YourTV and Global Peterborough.
Malaika Collette, playing the role of the federal minister of environment and climate change, discusses the environmental effects of climate change during a mock press conference outside of MP Michelle Ferreri's office in Peterborough on March 12, 2022. The event was one of 50 "Day of Action for a Just Transition" events organized across Canada by 350.org and The Council of Canadians. (Photo: Tricia Clarkson)
A crowd of around 60 people gathered outside of MP Michelle Ferreri’s office at 417 Bethune Street in Peterborough on Saturday (March 12) to demand the federal government accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The Peterborough event was one of 50 “Day of Action for a Just Transition” events organized across Canada on Saturday by 350.org and The Council of Canadians to hold the Trudeau government to its 2021 re-election campaign promise to assist Canadian workers and communities reliant on fossil fuels by introducing “Just Transition” legislation and by launching a Clean Jobs Training Centre.
The organizers encouraged event participants to hold a mock press conference outside their local MPs’ offices to unveil a “Ministry of Just Transitions” clean jobs training centre.
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For Our Grandchildren and the Peterborough Alliance for Climate Action held a mock press conference outside of MP Ferreri’s office on Saturday, with mock federal ministers announcing a clean jobs training centre in Peterborough.
“The ‘Ministers’ of Environment and Climate Change, Health, and the new Just Transition portfolio explained how fossil fuels are affecting our health and our environment,” states a media release from the event organizations. “They also explained how a Just Transition would ensure that existing fossil-fuel workers will obtain good, well-paying jobs retrofitting homes for better energy efficiency and expanding the electrical grid to provide the necessary renewable electrical energy.”
The event organizers also read a letter from MP Ferreri which, after apologizing for not being there in person, stated what a Conservative government would do to address climate change. Organizers compared the Conservative’s proposed actions to what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states is necessary to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees.
“The (Conservative’s) stated goals for reducing greenhouse gases and encouraging electric-vehicle purchases were both less than current Canadian targets,” the media release states.
A series of nine Valentine's Day themed photos by eight local photographers, including this feature photo by Brian Parypa, was our top Instagram post in February 2022. (Photo: Brian Parypa @bparypa73 / Instagram)
From the winter that will not end, we bring you the month of love — February.
As the days grow longer in February, I always appreciate how the sun changes too. It’s a bit higher, a bit brighter. and a bit warmer.
While February tends to not have a lot of redeeming qualities, our selection of top photos this month are stunning. We hope you enjoy them.
A special thank you to Rachelle Richard for her snowy peace sign — it was a welcome addition in a challenging end to the month.
Do you want to get on our top photographers list? All you need is an Insta account and to tag us using our hashtag #kawarthanow when posting your photo.
We share photos from across our readership area, which is the five-county area surrounding Peterborough which includes Peterborough, Northumberland, City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Hastings (we sneak in the occasional Algonquin Park picture as well, particularly if it’s by a Kawarthas photographer).
To see our daily shares of photos, follow us on Instagram @kawarthanow and check out our feed’s highlight reels for recaps of every month in 2022.
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#1. Happy Valentine’s Day from eight local photographers
Posted February 14, 2022. 9.9K impressions, 706 likes
Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks David Piccini and Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith check our some turtles during a funding announcement at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre on March 11, 2022. The centre is receiving an additional $250,000, as one of 80 projects receiving up to $4.5 million under Ontario's Species at Risk Stewardship Program. (Photo: Office of David Piccini)
The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre is receiving an additional $250,000 from the provincial government to mitigate threats to at-risk turtle species in Ontario, as part of up to $4.5 million in funding for 80 projects under Ontario’s Species at Risk Stewardship Program.
David Piccini, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks and MPP for Northumberland-Peterborough South, made the funding announcement at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre at 1434 Chemong Road in Selwyn on Friday (March 11), where he was joined by the centre’s executive and medical director Dr. Sue Carstairs, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, and Trent University vice-president of research and innovation Cathy Bruce.
“The on-the-ground work carried out by stewardship organizations is extremely important to protecting at-risk plants and wildlife in Ontario,” Piccini said in a media release. “Our government is proud to support its partners and the many important research and recovery projects they are undertaking this year to help preserve our province’s rich biodiversity for generations to come.”
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The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre is one of several multi-year projects receiving funding under the Species at Risk Stewardship Program, which was created under the Endangered Species Act to encourage people to get involved in protecting and recovering species at risk through stewardship activities.
Trent University is also receiving multi-year funding for three research projects: assessing changes in population size and genetic structure to determine population targets for self-sustaining populations of small-mouthed salamander and unisexual ambystoma on Pelee Island, and evaluating value and feasibility of conservation interventions; studying the conservation genomics of the Lake Superior caribou by investigating evolutionary origins, inbreeding, and adaption to identify priorities for habitat connectivity; and delineating boreal and eastern migratory ranges and investigating metapopulation dynamics of boreal caribou using genome-wide data from non-invasively collected samples.
Elsewhere in the greater Kawarthas region, Haliburton Highlands Land Trust is receiving new funding to search for species at risk in the Haliburton Highlands, to increase knowledge, awareness, and stewardship of species at risk through surveys for branched bartonia (a threatened spindly flowering plant) and ‘lost’ lady beetles, while engaging the community with outreach and education.
Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks David Piccini, Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre executive and medical director Dr. Sue Carstairs, Trent University vice-president of research and innovation Cathy Bruce, and Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith during a funding announcement at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre on March 11, 2022. Trent University is also receiving additional funding under Ontario’s Species at Risk Stewardship Program for three research projects. (Photo: Office of David Piccini)
“I’m grateful to Minister Piccini for his leadership on this file,” Smith said. “Last summer, he joined us on a tour of the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre and we saw firsthand the critical work they do, being the only such centre in all of Ontario. This historic investment will strengthen their work in ecological restoration and rehabilitation projects locally and across the province.”
The funding for the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre will be used to protect and recover at-risk turtles through rehabilitation of adult turtles, education, field research, and disease surveillance.
All eight turtle species found in Ontario are considered at risk under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act: spiny softshell (endangered), spotted turtle (endangered), wood turtle (endangered), eastern box turtle (extirpated — no longer found in Ontario), snapping turtle (special concern), northern map turtle (special concern), eastern musk turtle (special concern), and blanding’s turtle (threatened).
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The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre rehabilitates around 1,500 injured turtles each year and hatches as many as 5,000 turtle eggs each year from injured turtles, introducing the hatchlings back into their native environments.
“The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre greatly appreciates the funding provided by the Species at Risk Stewardship Program to support our many vital conservation programs,” Carstairs said.
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