The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit has issued an opioid overdose alert for all areas within its jurisdiction, which includes the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

The alert, issued in consultation with local police services and emergency medical services, is based on recent reports of multiple overdoses and at least four suspected overdose deaths in the region, especially in Lindsay and Cobourg, the two largest urban areas in the region.

A media release from the health unit issued on Monday (February 28) states “Contributing factors for these local overdoses include people using alone or a potentially contaminated or poisoned drug supply that is leading to more severe overdose reactions.”

“Let’s remember these aren’t just statistics,” says Catherine MacDonald, a registered nurse and substances and harm reduction coordinator with the HKPR District Health Unit. “Real lives are at stake, since people who use drugs are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends and loved ones.”

The HKPR District Health Unit’s alert follows a drug poisoning alert issued by Peterborough Public Health last Wednesday (February 23).

For anyone who uses drugs (or know someone who does), the health unit recommends:

• Test a small amount of drug before you use.
• Never use alone.
• If you are alone, call the National Overdose Response Service (NORS) virtual safe consumption at 1-888-668-NORS (6677), or use a buddy system and call a friend.
• Ensure that emergency services can be contacted in the event of an overdose.
• Avoid mixing your drugs.
• Keep a naloxone kit on hand. You can get a naloxone kit at most pharmacies and needle exchange sites.

Naloxone is an emergency medicine that temporarily reverses the effects of an opioid overdose until the victim can get to hospital for treatment. Naloxone is recommended to be used in all suspected drug overdoses, due to the possibility of opioid contamination or poisoning.

According to the health unit, local community partners are enhancing their naloxone distribution efforts in the wake of the alert. Free kits are also available for people who use opioids, as well as their family and friends, and can be picked up at health unit offices, local pharmacies, and other locations. Visit ontario.ca/page/where-get-free-naloxone-kit for where to get a free naloxone kit.

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MacDonald also encourages people to intervene if they see someone who is overdosing. Call 9-1-1 and give the person naloxone. The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act protects anyone trying to help in an emergency from possible legal repercussions, and also protects people on the scene of an overdose from being charged for possessing or using drugs.

Signs of an overdose include very large or very small pupils, slow or no breathing, cold and clammy skin, blue or purple fingernails or lips, and deep snoring or gurgling sounds. Often in drug overdoses, the person’s body is very limp and it is difficult to wake them up.

Information on local opioid overdose incidents is available at the HKPR District Health Unit’s Opioid Overdose Report dashboard.

Residents of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton can use an online form to report overdoses and drug-related incidents anonymously. The information submitted through the form will assist the HKPR District Health Unit to better understand and respond to opioid use and overdose in the region.

Someone in the Kawarthas Lakes area is Ontario’s newest multi-millionaire.

Kawarthas Lakes residents who play Lotto 6/49 need to check their tickets for Saturday’s draw (February 26).

OLG has issued a media release stating that a ticket for $21,593,703.80 jackpot was sold in the Kawartha Lakes area.

Players can check their tickets from home at www.olg.ca or by using the OLG app on their mobile device.

You can also call 1-866-891-8946.

Peterborough police smashed a vehicle window to arrest an organizer of the “slow roll” convoy that took place in Peterborough on Saturday (February 26) for failing to appear in court on earlier charges.

Local anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine mandate advocate Tyler Berry posted a public Facebook Live video of the arrest, after he and his girlfriend were pulled over on George Street near the Holiday Inn around 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Berry had organized and participated in the “slow roll” convoy that had taken place earlier, starting at Chemong Road and proceeding to Morrow Park.

The video shows a police officer who approached the passenger-side window, displayed an arrest warrant, and asked Berry to roll down the window.

“I don’t consent,” Berry continually repeated, refusing to roll down the window. Berry also challenged the way his name was spelled on the arrest warrant and said he refused to cooperate with the “corporation” of the Peterborough Police Service.

After around seven minutes, during which time Berry called the police “criminals” among other things, police warned him they would break the window if he did not comply.

“This is your choice,” a police officer can be heard to say through the closed window.

“If you want to smash the window, go right ahead,” Berry replied to the officer. “I’m going to hold you guys accountable. You will personally be held accountable. I’m going to take your job. You have an opportunity to walk away. I don’t consent.”

After another minute, the police smashed the passenger-side window, opened the door, and asked Berry to get out of the car.

Berry climbed out of the door and immediately either fell or collapsed on the ground, with police dragging him away before placing him in a police car.

Berry’s girlfriend then drove to the Peterborough police station, asking people watching the video to come to the station.

As of Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., a small group of protestors had gathered outside the police station.

VIDEO: People at Peterborough police station protesting the arrest of Tyler Berry

Berry was previously arrested and charged with criminal harassment and intimidation of a health official following an incident at the home of Peterborough medical officer of health on January 19. He was released on an undertaking with conditions and was scheduled to appear in court on February 17.

At the time of his arrest for the January 19 incident, police also served Berry with a court summons on two charges of mischief in connection with an unsanctioned parade on December 11, 2021.

kawarthaNOW contacted the Peterborough Police Service about Berry’s arrest, but they refused to comment. On Saturday evening, police issued a media release stating an unnamed 31-year-old Peterborough man “who participated in the convoy was arrested on George Street on an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court on February 17” and was held in custody for a bail hearing on Sunday (February 27). No other charges were laid.

The media release also states police “monitored” Saturday’s “slow roll” convoy, in which they estimate 100 vehicles participated.

“The convoy adhered to all rules of the road,” the media release states, and no charges were laid.

This story has been updated with information provided in a police media release.

Ralph McKim and Jean Garsonnin have donated around 150 acres of their Oak Ridges Moraine property to Kawartha Land Trust, a non-government charitable organization working to protect land in the Kawarthas.

The two long-time environmental stewards had already protected 240 acres of their land (known as the McKim-Garsonnin property) in perpetuity through a conservation easement agreement with Kawartha Land Trust in 2011. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between the landowner and a conservation organization that allow the landowner to permanently protect the conservation values of a property while still maintaining ownership.

Now Ralph and Jean have transferred the ownership of most of their property — including the portion containing the Ballyduff Trail network — to Kawartha Land Trust, with their remaining property continuing to be protected under a conservation easement agreement.

Around four kilometres south of Ballyduff in the City of Kawartha Lakes, the McKim-Garsonnin property was originally settled in the mid-19th century by Europeans, who cleared it for subsistence farming. Remnants of old root fences and rock piles can still be found, and the foundation of the old homestead is located in a thick stand of black locusts and lilacs. Later, the land was used for grazing cattle, resulting in some woodlot deterioration and land erosion.

Several years after purchasing the land in 1986, Ralph and Jean decided to build a squared-log home on a portion of the property. While doing so, they discovered the land’s ecological importance.

Located on the Oak Ridges Moraine, the property contains many of the features of that glacially formed terrain, including rolling hills, sand deposits, an esker left behind by an ancient river, and a wetland that is the source of a cold-water stream at the headwaters of Fleetwood Creek.

The land is bounded on the south and east by the 900-acre Fleetwood Creek Natural Area owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust, which contains a provincially significant earth and life science area of natural and scientific interest.

“It has become our mission to restore, as far as we are able, the ecological integrity of this land and make it available for the enjoyment of others now and in the future,” Ralph and Jean say.

Over the years, Ralph and Jean have worked with community groups and volunteers to re-establish woodlots on their property, planting thousands of white pine and red oak trees every year. They have created wildlife habitat while controlling invasive species.

They also developed 10 kilometres of five recreational trails — known as the Ballyduff Trail network — that are open to the public for hiking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

One of their most significant projects over the last 15 years has been restoring a native tallgrass prairie ecosystem on the property, which has become the best example and opportunity of restoration on any property protected by Kawartha Land Trust.

Every fall, volunteers have helped to harvest seeds from the tallgrass and wildflower species and return to help plant them in the spring.

The Ballyduff Trails network has also become a popular destination for nature walks hosted by groups ranging from the Peterborough Field Naturalists to the New Canadians Centre in Peterborough.

“It has been very exciting to have groups visit the property and become involved in some of the stewardship and volunteer days,” Ralph says. “We are very passionate about the property being open and free to visit.”

That passion has also led Ralph and Jean to partner with students from Trent University and Sir Sanford Fleming College so they can experience and learn on the land.

With all the activity over the years to restore their land, the couple has also seen increased interest from their neighbours, many of whom have realized their own land is ecologically significant and should be nurtured and protected.

For his part, Ralph says he’s grateful he has been able to spend his years of semi-retirement and retirement at the property.

“It’s given me the opportunity to work and stay active for many years,” Ralph says. “it’s also given me the opportunity to meet and bond with like-minded individuals and stewardship folks and there have been many opportunities for learning, educating, and working over the years.”

Kawartha Land Trust secured the McKim-Garsonnin property with the additional support of the Government of Ontario and Ontario Land Trust Alliance through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership, which helps conserve ecologically important natural areas and protect wetlands, grasslands, and forests that help mitigate the effects of climate change.

Through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership, a total of $50 million will be invested over four years, including $20 million from the Ontario government and another $30 million from other sources, such as individual donations and foundation support through the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Ontario Land Trust Alliance as well as from other levels of government.

To help maintain and enhance the ecological value of its protected properties, Kawartha Land Trust relies in part on community donations and volunteers. For more information about Kawartha Land Trust and the properties it protects, and to donate to the non-profit organization or for volunteer opportunities, visit kawarthalandtrust.org. You can also follow Kawartha Land Trust on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

This story was created in partnership with Kawartha Land Trust.

The Ontario government has approved $1.3 million in funding for a Consumption and Treatment Site (CTS) at Peterborough’s new Opioid Response Hub at 220 Simcoe Street.

Fourcast (Four Counties Addiction Services Team) is leading the Opioid Response Hub in collaboration with PARN – Your Community AIDS Resource Network, Peterborough 360 Degree Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, the Mobile Support Overdose Resource Team (MSORT), Peterborough Drug Strategy, and Peterborough County-City Paramedics.

The partners in the initiative have been waiting for provincial CTS approval since late 2020. In June 2021, the federal government provided an exemption to allow the use of illegal drugs at 220 Simcoe Street, conditional upon provincial approval of funding to operate the CTS.

The partners decided to renovate the site at 220 Simcoe Street in advance of approval of provincial CTS funding, so they could become operational as soon as possible after funding approval. Renovations at the location were completed in December after over $160,000 was raised as part of the Light The Way To 160K campaign.

Services at the Opioid Response Hub will include health supports such as harm reduction supplies and wound assessment, treatment supports including opiate replacement therapy and detox, and social supports including counselling. Hub staff will also connect clients with income supports, housing supports, and cultural supports including Indigenous services.

The provincial funding approval comes days after Peterborough Public Health issued its second drug poisoning warning, with 19 different overdose-related incidents reported over the previous week. The health unit also issued a drug poisoning alert on February 4, and extended it on February 8, after detecting a total of 17 overdose-related incidents in late January and early February.

Since 2019, the Ontario government has approved 17 CTS sites in communities across the province.

Two Peterborough-based organizations are receiving up to $74,495 in funding through the Ontario government’s EnAbling Change Program to promote accessibility and inclusivity.

The Council for Persons with Disabilities (CPD) is receiving up to $26,340 to expand its Time in My Shoes program to include a virtual reality program.

The experiential program promotes better accessibility for customers and employees in businesses and services by allowing participants to experience mobility challenges, vision loss, hearing loss and invisible disabilities.

The virtual reality component provides simulations that emulate what it is like to have a disability and do an everyday task like going to the grocery store. The Council for Persons with Disabilities has four simulations in production that focus on different disabilities.

Raymond Cho, Ontario’s minister for seniors and accessibility, attended a media event in Peterborough on Friday (February 25) where he spoke and later tried out the virtual reality demonstration.

“The Time in My Shoes program virtual reality experience is enabling people to have a first-person experience with a 21st-century technology,” Minister Cho said.

The media event, hosted by CPD director Lois Tuffin, was also attended by Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough councillor and former CPD board member Keith Riel, CPD chair Andrea Dodsworth, CPD executive director John McNutt, and CPD vice-chair Leslie Yee.

Yee announced a new CPD event called Capable Con, described as “a convention that opens the conversation about disability, teaches us about and creates community with those living with disabilities.”

It will take place on June 4, 2022 on the final day of AccessAbility Week.

Orchestras Canada is also receiving up to $48,155 to design and deliver six webinars called “EnAbling Change: Accessibility for the Performing Arts” to educate Ontario not-for-profit performing arts organizations about their legal obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Two of the webinars have already taken place and the remaining four will be held from March to May. To view recordings of past webinars and to register for upcoming ones, visit the Orchestras Canada website at op.ca.

This story has been updated with photos from the media event.