The Ontario government has announced it is reinstating renewal requirements for driver's licences, licence plate stickers, health cards, and more. If you have licence plate stickers that expired during the pandemic, you must renew them by February 28, 2022 and pay for any deferred fees. For example, the fee to renew this sticker will be $240: the fee for May 2020 to May 2021 plus the fee for May 2021 to May 2022. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
The Ontario government is lifting its pandemic pause on the renewals of driver’s licences, licence plate stickers, Ontario photo and health cards, and more.
If you are among the 17 per cent of Ontarians who have deferred renewing, you now have until February 28, 2022 to bring most provincial documents up to date.
You will also be responsible for paying any deferred fees when you renew. For example, if you are renewing in 2021 a sticker that expired in 2020, you will be charged for both 2020 and 2021 — a $240 fee in southern Ontario.
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When the pandemic hit in March 2020, the government paused the requirement to renew these products when ServiceOntario centres were closed to the public. For some products like licence plate stickers, Ontarians could still renew them online but were not required to do so.
The government continued the pause on renewals over the past 18 months, even after ServiceOntario centres reopened, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Any government-issued products that expired on or after March 1, 2020 remained valid.
That ends on February 28, 2022, when most products must be renewed. However, some products must be renewed earlier and some can be renewed later. The government has waived some normal requirements so that renewals can be done online. Products will be mailed directly with an ability to print proof of renewal.
Drivers under the age of 80 (class G/M) whose licences expired after March 1, 2020 must renew them by February 28, 2022. However, drivers won’t be required to update their licence photo as part of the renewal.
Senior drivers 80 years and older (class G/M) whose licences expired after March 1, 2020 must renew them by February 28, 2022. However, they will not have to attend a senior driver’s group education session program or visit a ServiceOntario centre in person to renew their licences.
Novice drivers (class G1, G2, M1, or M2) with licences expiring between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022 have until December 31, 2022 to complete testing to maintain or upgrade their licence. They also have until December 31, 2022 to complete a beginner driver education course if they enrolled in one during the pandemic.
Commercial drivers (class A, B, C, D, E and F) whose licences expired after March 1, 2020 must renew them by February 28, 2022.
School bus driver (class B and E) who have completed their road test by December 31, 2021 will have until June 30, 2022 to complete their school bus driver improvement course.
Licence plate stickers
Licence plate stickers for all vehicles except heavy commercial vehicles must be renewed by February 28, 2022.
Licence plate stickers for heavy commercial vehicles must be renewed by December 31, 2021.
Drivers who have not renewed their licence plate stickers during the pandemic will be required to pay the fee for previous years, in addition to the current year renewal fee.
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Accessible parking permits
All eligible accessible parking permits with expiry dates between March 17, 2020 and February 28, 2022 must be renewed before March 1, 2022.
Ontario photo cards
Ontario photo cards with expiry dates between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2022 must be renewed by February 28, 2022.
Ontario health cards
All expired Ontario health cards with a photo must be renewed by February 28, 2022.
For additional renewal requirements (including for driving instructors, carrier products, and vehicle registration and safety inspections), visit the Ontario government website.
The Talwood neigbourhood in Peterborough has the highest population density in the city. Community gardens such as the Talwood Community Garden shown here are one way to address equality of access to fresh, healthy, and culturally appropriate foods. (Photo: Jillian Bishop)
September is Local Food Month in Peterborough. Peak harvest season provides us with an opportunity to highlight the vital importance of Peterborough-area food and farms in our local culture and economy.
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s guest column is by Jillian Bishop, Community Food Cultivator with the Nourish Project.
We are lucky to live in a region rich in local food sources. Not only are we surrounded by rich farmland, fresh water, and lush forests, but we are also surrounded by knowledgeable and hard-working growers, farmers, foragers, and stewards of the land. These people can help us access this bounty of fresh food as it comes into peak harvest season. We depend on these stewards and their care of the land for our food and future.
Local food comes in many forms: a carrot picked proudly from a community garden, a bushel of paste tomatoes from a farmers’ marketm corn from a favourite farm stand just in time for dinnerm wild rice harvested from a local lakem meats lovingly raised by local farmers, as well as cheese, milk, and other dairy products stocking grocery store shelves with a “Made with Ontario” sticker. These and so many other delicious options can be found across Peterborough and the Kawarthas.
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September is an excellent time to buy local, to support farmers, and to engage in our food systems. This concept of eating locally seems more important than ever as we look to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This September, let’s buy local and support our local farms, and work together to increase sustainability and equity in all aspects of our food systems.
Buying local builds local business. Shopping locally means putting money back into the local economy, where it can circulate to support multiple small businesses and create new jobs.
Buying local also means you are eating what is fresh and most in season. This reduces food miles, as food does not need to be shipped long distances to get to your plate.
The Community Market at Curve Lake First Nation is a collaborative initiative with the Nourish Project. For many people food insecurity is not simply a matter of having enough food available, but having the available income to purchase this food. A universal basic income is one way to ensure all members of our communities have equal access to fresh foods. (Photo: Jillian Bishop)
Finally, buying local helps support farmers and producers who are contributing to the health of our ecosystems overall. If each person living in the Kawarthas spent just $5 per week on local food, this would contribute $55 million to our local economy annually.
When looking to determine what is local, it is best to shop directly from farmers via farm stands, farmers’ markets, or by purchasing a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) share directly, or through grocers and shops that showcase where they source their products from.
Despite such local bounty, not everyone in this region has equal access to local food systems. For our local food to thrive sustainably, equity must be part of the conversation.
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Peterborough has great resources to learn more about the many components of our food system.
For a wide range of information about food in our community, visit Local Food Peterborough at localfoodptbo.ca. This website contains information about finding local food, what’s in season, starting a farm, and much more. The site contains links to over 20 videos showcasing local farms in our region.
Want to learn more about growing your own food, joining or starting a community garden, cooking, and preserving fresh local food, and advocating for fair and just food system? Check out the Nourish Project at nourishproject.ca.
To support our local food system, shop directly from farmers via farm stands and farmers’ markets, purchase a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) share directly, or by locally grown products at grocers and shops. (Photo: Jillian Bishop)
Our food system is complex, and farmers come in many forms. If you eat fresh local food, migrant farmers likely played a critical role in getting that food on your plate. Every year, Ontario welcomes over 25,000 temporary foreign workers, who harvest or are otherwise involved in food production, particularly fruits and vegetables. Ontario brings the highest number of migrants workers in Canada.
For many migrant farmers, their jobs and rights hinge on the farms that employ them. Many farm labourers come to Canada through the federal government’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. Through this program, migrant farmers are issued work permits to fill vacant positions at a specific farm for a specific length of time. As citizens, it is important that we are aware of this issue and advocate for all farmers to be respected and treated fairly.
To ensure that our food systems are sustainable and secure, workers’ rights must be central. The New Canadians Centre in Peterborough recently released a five-minute film (below) showcasing the story of one local farmer who comes to Circle Organic each season from Mexico.
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This harvest, let’s consider the many aspects about what makes our local food systems truly sustainable. Let’s not only think about how we spend our food dollars and how those decisions can positively impact our community and environment. Let’s also think about how we can work together to ensure that all farmers are respected for the critical work they do, that the land we grow upon is protected, and that all members of our community have equal access to the bounty that surrounds us.
Access to fresh, healthy, and culturally appropriate foods is not equal for far too many Canadians. For many people food insecurity is not simply a matter of having enough food available, but having the available income to purchase this food.
Food banks, emergency food, and reclaiming wasted food are not viable long-term solutions. To ensure all members of our communities have equal access to fresh foods, we need to advocate for universal basic income.
VIDEO: The Hands That Feed Us – New Canadians Centre
With an election looming, we can do more than just shop local to support our local food systems. Let’s ask candidates these questions:
How will you support all local farmers and food systems?
How will you ensure that all Canadians have access to fresh, locally produced, and culturally appropriate foods?
How will you support Indigenous communities in ensuring they have sovereign access to their traditional foods?
How will you reduce climate chaos by protecting farmland, rewarding farms and farmers who contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gases, and protecting precious resources such as water and soil?
How will you ensure that all community members earn enough to purchase the fresh food that is available in our region?
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 656 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases remaining unchanged at 700.
Of Ontario’s 34 health units, 1 is reporting a triple-digit increase (Toronto with 158 cases), with 13 reporting double-digit increases — York (76), Hamilton (73), Peel (59), Windsor-Essex (50), Durham (31), Middlesex-London (30), Halton (29), Waterloo (26), Ottawa (22), Simcoe Muskoka (22), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (20), Niagara (14), and Chatham-Kent (12) — and 6 reporting no new cases at all.
Of the new cases, 69% are people who have not been fully vaccinated (61% have not received any doses and 8% have received only one dose) and 23% are people who have been fully vaccinated with two doses, with the vaccination status unknown for 8% of the cases.
Hospitalizations have increased by 3 to 339, the number of ICU patients has increased by 5 to 163, and the number of ICU patients on ventilators has increased by 3 to 96. Ontario is reporting 13 COVID-related deaths, but 6 of these occurred more than 2 months ago and are being reported today as part of a data clean-up, so there were 7 new COVID-related deaths yesterday.
Almost 20.8 million vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of 34,703 from yesterday, with more than 9.9 million people fully vaccinated, an increase of 21,502 from yesterday, representing just over 67.3% of Ontario’s total population.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from August 1 – August 31, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from August 1 – August 31, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, and the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario from August 1 – August 31, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered and the green line is the cumulative number of people fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report over the past 2 days, including 6 in Hastings Prince Edward, 3 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Peterborough. There are no new cases in Northumberland or Haliburton.
An additional 9 cases have been resolved in the region including 4 in Peterborough, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland.
The number of active cases has increased by 1 in Kawartha Lakes and decreased by 3 in Hastings Prince Edwards, by 2 in Peterborough, and by 1 in Northumberland.
There are currently 70 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 5 from August 30, including 37 in Hastings Prince Edward (15 in Belleville, 11 in Central Hastings, 6 in Quinte West, 4 in Prince Edward County, and 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto), 20 in Peterborough, 10 in Kawartha Lakes, and 3 in Northumberland. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,692 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,650 resolved with 22 deaths), 1,232 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (1,177 resolved with 58 deaths), 969 in Northumberland County (949 resolved with 17 deaths), 127 in Haliburton County (126 resolved with 1 death), and 1,278 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,219 resolved with 12 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Hastings Prince Edward on July 28.
Beginning September 22, 2021, Ontarians over 12 will need to provide proof of vaccination to gain entry to higher-risk indoor public settings where face masks cannot always be worn. Initially, a copy of a vaccination receipt will be used, with a digital vaccination certificate and a verification app to be launched by October 22. (Stock photo)
As of Wednesday, September 22, all Ontarians — except children under 12 and those with valid medical exemptions — will be required to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 (two doses plus 14 days after their second dose) to gain entry to higher-risk indoor public settings where face masks cannot always be worn.
The Ontario government provided details of a COVID-19 vaccine certificate (commonly called a “vaccine passport”) during a technical media briefing on Wednesday morning (September 1), followed by an announcement by Premier Doug Ford in the afternoon — Ford’s first media conference in more than a month.
“It’s no secret — this is something I did not want to do,” Ford said. “This is a serious step that we’re not taking lightly, and I know this is going to be very difficult for some people. Let me be clear: this is a temporary tool we won’t use for a day longer than we have to.”
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“But after talking to (Ontario chief medical officer of health) Dr. Moore, I know that this is what we have to do right now in the face of this fourth wave, because these certificates are necessary to keep our hospitals safe and to avoid another lockdown,” Ford added.
There are two phases to the vaccine certificate, which will be required to gain entry to the following settings:
Restaurants and bars, except for outdoor patios, delivery, and takeout
Nightclubs, including outdoor areas of the establishment such as patios
Meeting and event spaces, such as banquet halls and conference/convention centres
Facilities used for sports and fitness activities and personal fitness training, such as gyms, fitness and recreational facilities, except for youth recreational sport
Sporting events
Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments
Concerts, music festivals, theatres and cinemas
Strip clubs, bathhouses and sex clubs
Racing venues (e.g., horse racing)
With the exception of outdoor spaces at nightclubs, the vaccine certificate requirement does not apply to outdoor settings. It also does not apply to grocery stores, pharmacies, medical care settings, personal care settings such as hair salons, retail settings, religious settings such as churches, or polling stations for the federal election.
Government officials also confirmed the vaccine certificate requirement does not apply to employees of the listed businesses and facilities, although they may implement a mandatory vaccination policy using the requirement if they want.
While children under 12 do not require the vaccine certificate to gain entry to the listed settings, parents accompanying children to these settings must provide proof of vaccination.
To obtain a PDF of their vaccination receipt, people can log into into the provincial booking portal at covid19.ontariohealth.ca using their health card, date of birth, and postal code. They can then print a paper copy of the PDF or keep the downloaded PDF on their phone. Ontarians who don’t have internet access can call the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900. (kawarthaNOW screenshot)
The first phase of the vaccine certificate, which begins on September 22, will require Ontarians to show a copy of the vaccination receipt they were issued after receiving their second dose of vaccine, along with a piece of government-issued photo ID to gain entry to the above settings.
To obtain a PDF of their vaccination receipt, people can log into into the provincial booking portal at covid19.ontariohealth.ca using their health card, date of birth, and postal code. They can then print a paper copy of the PDF or keep the downloaded PDF on their phone. Ontarians who don’t have internet access can call the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900.
The second phase begins a month later, when the government will issue Ontarians a “digital vaccine certificate”, an enhanced certificate that includes a unique QR code. A new verification app will be launched no later than Friday, October 22 that businesses and facilities can download and use to scan and validate the QR code on the certificate. Along with the certificate with the QR code, people would also need to show a piece of government-issued photo ID.
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Government officials said the digital vaccine certificate is intended to be more secure than the existing vaccine receipts (which could be modified and forged), reduce privacy concerns by exposing less personal information, and make it easier for businesses and facilities to validate a person’s vaccination status.
The government will be providing detailed guidance for businesses and facilities, to address situations such as where a person on a restaurant’s outdoor patio (where proof of vaccination is not required) needs to go inside the restaurant to use the washroom. The guidance will also include information on what forms of government-issued ID are acceptable.
People with legitimate medical exemptions to getting vaccinated would be allowed entry to the listed settings by showing a copy of their medical exemption. Eventually, a QR code would be provided on the medical exemption document that could also be scanned by the new verification app.
The first phase of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine certificate will require people seeking entry to higher-risk indoor public settings to show a copy of their vaccination receipt along with government photo ID. (kawarthaNOW screenshot)
A negative COVID-19 test or a recent COVID-19 infection does not entitle people to enter the listed settings, except in situations where people are going to a wedding or a funeral held in an event space. In those situations, people can use proof of a negative test to gain entry, but only between September 22 and October 12.
Government officials said the start date of September 22 for the vaccine certificate is intended to give people and businesses enough time to adapt, to download their vaccination receipt, and to get a second dose of vaccine if they were hesitating. The date also coincides with cooler weather, when more people will be heading indoors.
Officials added the vaccine certificate is intended to be a temporary measure to reduce COVID-19 transmission and to encourage more people to get vaccinated, and will be monitored and evaluated.
Penalties, including fines, for not adhering to the vaccine certificate policy will be defined in regulations to the Reopening Ontario Act.
The second phase of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine certificate will require people seeking entry to higher-risk indoor public settings to show an enhanced certificate with a QR code, along with government photo ID. The business or facility will then use a verification app to scan the QR code and confirm the person’s vaccination status. (kawarthaNOW screenshot)
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 525 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 5 to 700.
Of Ontario’s 34 health units, 1 is reporting a triple-digit increase (Toronto with 120 cases), with 13 reporting double-digit increases — Peel (60), Windsor-Essex (60), Hamilton (42), Niagara (41), York (30), Simcoe Muskoka (21), Durham (19), Middlesex-London (19), Waterloo (19), Brant (19), Halton (14), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (11), and Ottawa (10) — and 8 reporting no new cases at all.
Of the new cases, 70% are people who have not been fully vaccinated (62% have not received any doses and 8% have received only one dose) and 17% are people who have been fully vaccinated with two doses, with the vaccination status unknown for 12% of the cases.
Hospitalizations have increased by 110 to 336, but this increase may be in part due to underreporting since last Friday (when 343 hospitalizations were reported), as more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data to the daily bed census over the weekend. The number of ICU patients has decreased by 2 to 158 and the number of ICU patients on ventilators remains unchanged at 93.
Ontario is reporting 5 COVID-related deaths, but 3 of these occurred more than 2 months ago and are being reported today as part of a data clean-up, so there were 2 new COVID-related deaths yesterday.
Over 20.7 million vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of 31,176 from yesterday, with more than 9.9 million people fully vaccinated, an increase of 19,228 from yesterday, representing just over 67.2% of Ontario’s total population.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from July 31 – August 30, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from July 31 – August 30, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, and the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario from July 31 – August 30, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered and the green line is the cumulative number of people fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 3 new cases in Peterborough and 3 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases decreasing by 1 to 22.
There have been 2 new COVID-related hospitalizations in Peterborough and 1 new ICU admission.
Numbers are unavailable for Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, Northumberland, and Hastings Prince Edward as the respective health units only issue reports on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Numbers for Tuesday will be included in Wednesday’s update.
There are currently 75 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 1 from yesterday, including 40 in Hastings Prince Edward (19 in Belleville, 10 in Central Hastings, 7 in Quinte West, 2 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 1 in North Hastings), 22 in Peterborough, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, and 4 in Northumberland. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,690 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,646 resolved with 22 deaths), 1,229 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (1,175 resolved with 58 deaths), 969 in Northumberland County (948 resolved with 17 deaths), 127 in Haliburton County (126 resolved with 1 death), and 1,269 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,217 resolved with 12 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Hastings Prince Edward on July 28.
Children participating in a four-week pilot of the Kawartha Youth Orchestra's Upbeat! Downtown after-school music program in 2019. The free program, designed for children living in Peterborough who are interested in music but face barriers to accessing music education, will run from September to June with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Youth Orchestra)
As part of the Kawartha Youth Orchestra’s commitment to removing barriers to music education for children, the non-profit organization is launching a free after-school music program in September for children living in Peterborough who would otherwise not have access to music education.
The program, called ‘Upbeat! Downtown’, is funded by an Ontario Trillium Grow Grant and will run three times per week inside of All Saints’ Anglican Church Parish Hall at 235 Rubidge Street in downtown Peterborough.
This year, Upbeat will be taking 30 students aged eight and nine years old, along with siblings close in age. If everything goes smoothly, the program will expand next fall to include 60 students between the ages of six and 18.
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Upbeat will run after school every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 3:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., beginning on September 13 and running until June.
Alexander Cannon, Kawartha Youth Orchestra’s artistic director and Upbeat’s lead teaching artist, says the program aims to recruit children from schools nearby to All Saints. If the child goes to school nearby, they can participate in a volunteer walking program as safe after-school transportation to All Saints.
“For folks who are close and qualify for the program, we safely get your child from their school to our program, and then the family is responsible for picking up their child at the end of the day,” Cannon tells kawarthaNOW.
Alexander Cannon is Kawartha Youth Orchestra’s new artistic director and Upbeat’s lead teaching artist. Cannon is a music educator, orchestral conductor, and trumpet player. Cannon grew up with two trained musicians as his parents, and is passionate about giving children the kind of access to music education he had. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Youth Orchestra)
The program is fully subsidized, so there are no fees. Along with safe transportation from school to Upbeat, the program includes an instrument loan, supplies, and a daily health snack. Children do not need any prior musical experience to participate.
To fill the program’s 30 spots, school teachers, principals, and administrators can recommend children for the program who they feel would benefit the most. In addition, parents can register their children by filling out and submitting an application form at kawarthayouthorchestra.org/join-upbeat-downtown/.
Cannon says the spots are filling up very fast, and there will likely be a waitlist for the program. Nevertheless, he encourages parents to register their children and join the waitlist since some families might move away and some children may leave the program during the year.
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According to Cannon, Upbeat will be a fun, ensemble-based program to expose participating children to music and foster their curiosity. The children enrolled will do some learning on the xylophone and will also learn to play the violin.
“It’s about creating whole people,” Cannon remarks.
When children arrive at Upbeat every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, they will be greeted with a snack. Then they will spend 10 to 15 minutes of “centring time” gathered in a circle, where they will talk about their days, prompted with questions like, “What is one exciting thing that happened during your day today?”
VIDEO: Upbeat! Downtown Peterborough (2019 pilot)
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will then spend time learning the beginning basics of music theory. Then they will have a session on their violin until the end of the program at 5:30 p.m.
On Wednesdays, Cannon says they mix things up a bit for students to keep the program exciting and interactive. Instead of music theory, students will partake in a music listening session. Then a special guest will demonstrate an intrument or perform for the kids.
“I’m going to try to find the most unusual instruments from different places,” Cannon says. “The ultimate goal of all this is exposure to foster curiosity.”
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Although the Ontario Trillium Grow Grant is supporting the program for its first few years, Kawartha Youth Orchestra still needs community support.
“One of our big mandates is going to be fundraising so we can make it beyond the three years of the grant,” Cannon explains.
Donations are not the only way you can support the Upbeat program. According to Cannon, you can also volunteer to help with the snack program, transportation, and checking kids in and out at the beginning and end of each day. Volunteers are heavily vetted and require background and police checks.
The Kawartha Youth Orchestra’s rehearsal space at All Saints’ Anglican Church Parish Hall, where the Upbeat! Downtown after-school music program will take place three times a week between September and June, has ample space to support physical distancing requirements during the pandemic. All participants will also be required to wear masks, only removing them when playing a wind instrument. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Youth Orchestra)
“The more we build up our volunteer base now, the better this is going to run a year from September,” Cannon notes. “After this initial year of getting our foothold, we do expect the program to grow drastically. Going from 30 to 60 is going to be a big leap for next year.”
While Upbeat is a new and exciting addition to Kawartha Youth Orchestra’s programming, they are also excited to continue their existing orchestra programs.
Kawartha Youth Orchestra ensembles, which are partially subsidized but require a tuition fee, exist on three levels: junior, intermediate, and senior. Each level requires a different degree of playing experience.
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Cannon is looking forward to welcoming students back to the ensemble program in person this fall. He says although the Kawartha Youth Orchestra did a fantastic job of keeping their ensembles going virtually throughout the pandemic, they are looking forward to resuming in-person activities in September.
As long as pandemic conditions don’t take a dramatic turn for the worse, the orchestra has received the go-ahead from Peterborough Public Health to return in-person rehearsals with COVID restrictions and protocols in place.
These include a requirement to wear masks (except for those who must remove them when playing a wind instrument) and remaining under 50 per cent capacity of their rehearsal space at All Saints’ Anglican Church Parish Hall.
Kawartha Youth Orchestra is a non-profit organization committed to offering youth in the Kawarthas region an opportunity to learn symphonic music and perform. Along with the Upbeat! Downtown program the organization has junior, intermediate, and senior ensembles, each of which requires a different degree of playing experience. The orchestra recently received the go-ahead from Peterborough Public Health to resume in-person rehearsals, although with pandemic restrictions in place. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Youth Orchestra)
Fortunately, All Saints’ Anglican Church Parish Hall is large enough to accommodate physical distancing.
Cannon says the pandemic has shown how vital the arts and community are, especially the social benefits that come from performing music in a group.
“The sense of community and communication that one gets from a music ensemble setting has clearly been missed,” he remarks. “People are looking forward to getting back to it.”
Although limited spots are available for the Upbeat! Downtown program, the Kawartha Youth Orchestra encourages those who are interested to apply and be placed on a waitlist in case there are any openings during the year. (Graphic courtesy of Kawartha Youth Orchestra)
“I hope the pandemic has made people aware that it’s part of their health care and humanity to be part of something like this,” Cannon says.
“In an artistic setting, there is this sense of humanity. There’s something that feeds us in a way that nothing else can.”
Cannon notes that although their organization is called the Kawartha Youth Orchestra, it’s not just about orchestral music.
For example, they plan to spend two months of their second term working on chamber music and composition with their senior orchestra this year.
Kawartha Youth Orchestra programs require financial support to fund their rent, staff, sheet music, and instrument supply costs. Instrument donations and word-of-mouth support are non-monetary ways you can support the non-profit.
Those interested in joining one of the Kawartha Youth Orchestra ensembles can visit the Kawartha Youth Orchestra website at kawarthayouthorchestra.org, where you can also volunteer or donate to support the Upbeat program of the ensemble programs.
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist Laila Biali brings her pop-infused jazz to The Barn at Westben in Campbellford, with two performances on the evenings of September 17 and 18, 2021. She will be accompanied by her husband Ben Wittman on drums and George Koller on bass. (Photo: Edith Maybin)
Of all the accomplished musical artists that Brian Finley and Donna Bennett have brought to Westben in Campbellford, it’s a pretty safe bet that few have been as tickled to headline that venue as the multiple award-winning Canadian jazz singer, pianist, and songwriter Laila Biali.
A few years back, Biali’s husband Ben Wittman had a gig at Westben, playing drums for a performance by jazz singer Heather Bambrick. Presented with what she recalls as “a rare night off,” Biali took in the performance with the couple’s young son.
“We put a picnic together, piled into the car, and off we went,” she recalls. “The drive alone was beautiful as we got closer and closer to our destination, but nestled in the midst of this totally rural, bucolic landscape was a world-class stage, complete with a concert grand piano. To have a concert grand in addition to such an exquisite natural environment — well, that’s almost unheard of.”
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“It’s like a New York City concert hall in the middle of the woods and all this farmland,” adds Biali, who knows about New York City concert halls, having performed at the city’s famed Carnegie Hall.
“I asked Ben and Heather after the show, ‘How can I get a gig there? What do I have to do?’ I said to my agent that maybe at some point we can approach them, but we didn’t have to wait long. They approached us and here we are, and for two nights no less. Not one. We get two. I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Biali will perform at The Barn (6698 County Road 30 North, Campbellford) at 7 p.m. on both Friday, September 17 and Saturday, September 18, as part of Westben’s fall festival. Tickets are $50 for adults, $48 for seniors, and $20 for those under 20 (plus HST) and can be purchased online at westben.ca/concerts21/laila-biali or by calling 705-653-5508.
VIDEO: “Sugar” – Laila Biali
Joining the Vancouver native will be her husband Ben Wittman on drums and George Koller on bass.
“Ben and I met touring with [American singer] Paula Cole in 2007 and have been working together ever since,” says Biali. “Because it’s so comfortable and we have so much history, we can take a bunch of risks. You never quite know what’s going to happen.”
“That’s not only really fun for us but it’s fun for the audience too. We play a type of jazz that I like to think of as super-accessible for someone who’s a bit of a jazz skeptic. It’s all about presenting a show that is dynamic and fun and engaging.”
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That approach has worked exceptionally well for Biali who has played some very big stages, from the aforementioned Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. The two Westben gigs are part of her current tour of Ontario, with additional performances scheduled for Quebec and British Columbia as well as south of the border.
“Touring is my happiest place — I was starved during the pandemic,” admits Biali. “The road, to a large degree, is home for us. We’re most comfortable when we’re on planes and in hotels and on stages. We just love it. Obviously it’s way more complex now than it ever was. But as long as it can be done safely, if we can be out there sharing music and still be abiding by guidelines, we’re thrilled.”
Like many musicians, Biali is only fulfilled when she can perform in front of a live audience
VIDEO: “Revival” – Laila Biali
“Sharing my music live with an in-person audience is really my M.O. That’s why I do what I do. For me, music is all about the connection. The songs, in my mind, don’t really take flight until they’re shared live.”
With eight albums to her credit, Biali has plenty to share. That catalogue of recorded work includes her self-titled 2018 album that brought her a 2019 Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, and two Juno award nominations in the same category — in 2011 for her second album Tracing Light and, just this past April, for her latest album Out Of Dust.
“I’ve definitely gone through times when I have had a little bit of an identity crisis, where I feel I’m too jazz for pop and too pop for jazz, where I’m somewhere in the middle and I don’t have a home,” says Biali.
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“What the Juno award win really did was affirm that in the big J jazz world there’s so much room for play. I think that’s why you see more and more people coming back to jazz, even people who don’t think they like jazz. They’re discovering artists who are presenting a type of jazz they can relate to a little more easily. The award was affirmation that I have a home in the world of Canadian jazz. That means a great deal to me. Still, it was totally unexpected. I was just thrilled to be nominated and then bowled over when they called out my name.”
That Biali has been, and remains, one of the leading lights on the Canadian jazz landscape and beyond is even more remarkable when one considers that jazz wasn’t the music genre she seemed destined to one day master. Playing piano at a young age, she gravitated towards classical music with the “dreams of going to Juilliard [in New York City] and becoming a concert pianist” — until she suffered an injury as a teenager.
“I was injured in a car accident when I was about 15,” she explains. “We were rear-ended on the highway and it did a number of my neck. My right arm became more limited due to fusion. Around the time that all happened, I was introduced to jazz.”
VIDEO: “Got to Love” – Laila Biali
“Jazz felt a little bit like the rebound boyfriend while I was still grieving my first love of classical music. I actually didn’t love it [jazz] initially. It was really complex and I didn’t understand it. It was like a new language. The idea of making up music, making up a solo, was terrifying to me.”
That aside, “a few key moments” won Biali over to the genre.
“First, I discovered a community in jazz. Classical music was really a solitary practice, especially as a piano player. I wasn’t part of a band. Jazz was an invitation into a community. I fundamentally just love people so getting to share music with people and other players was so exciting.”
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“Second, I heard a musician who blended the worlds of classical music and jazz. That was very exciting to me and helped me bridge the two worlds. It helped me feel like I could find my way with this unfamiliar genre.
“Another experience I had that clinched the whole thing for me was I heard a piano player at the Montreal Bistro in Toronto. He was playing songs by Radiohead and Bjork and David Bowie and it blew my mind because those are artists I love. I thought if you can import pop and mainstream music into jazz, bring the richness of jazz harmonies to the accessibility and brilliance of those artists, it was like having my cake and eating it too. I felt I had found my place. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since — a pop and jazz mix.”
That has worked out exceptionally well for Biali. Besides headlining festivals and venues around the world, singing background vocals for Sting’s 2009 DVD A Winter’s Night: Live From Durham Cathedral, and touring with the likes of Chris Botti and Suzanne Vega, in 2020 she was awarded SOCAN’s Hagood Hardy Award for excellence in jazz, instrumental or world music. In addition, there’s her ongoing hosting of Saturday Night Jazz on CBC Radio 2.
VIDEO: “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell – Laila Biali
Biali says her latest album Out Of Dust provides full evidence of her progression as a singer.
“When I sang on Introducing The Laila Biali Trio [her 2003 debut album], I wasn’t owning the vocal component yet. I was sitting at the piano trying to sing. Now the vocals are really front-and-centre — the primary means by which I connect with my audience.”
“I’ve become more and more at home with who I am as a jazz crossover artist. Pop has almost traditionally been a dirty word in the jazz world, where if you’re too pop you’re seen as a bit of a sell-out or not really legitimate. I love mainstream music and I love pop as it informs my sound. I’m now far more unapologetic about that and owning it.”
Laila Biali’s awards and honours include a Juno for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, SOCAN Music’s Hagood Hardy Award for Excellence in Songwriting, and top prize at the Canadian Songwriting Competition in the Jazz category. She was also the youngest-ever double winner at Canada’s National Jazz Awards as SOCAN Composer of the Year and Keyboardist of the Year. (Photo: Julia Hembree)
“The music business can be ageist, but jazz is not,” adds Biali, who marked her 40th birthday in 2020. “There’s still a child-like spirit to what I do and, in that sense, the 20-year-old me is always there. As I’ve gotten older and matured, I’ve been able to settle into who I am as an artist with more confidence, more experience and more stories to tell. I think the result has been an improved product rather than one that has deteriorated with age.”
“My work feels like play but, make no mistake, I’m applying for grants all the time. I’m at my computer far more than the piano. I’m a businesswoman — an entrepreneur really. That keeps me tethered to reality.”
“But music has been my passport to the world and resulted in the fulfillment of my bucket list dream item of working with Sting. Performing in a country you never imagined you would even visit has been another pinch-me moment. I don’t take anything for granted, whether that’s in Beijing or in Campbellford.”
For more on Laila Biali, visit her website at lailabiali.com. For more about Westben’s fall festival, visit westben.ca/events.
This story has been updated to correct a misquote.
The Boardwalk Board Game Lounge in downtown Peterborough has over 550 games to play and also offers food and drink. Co-owners and brothers Connor and Dylan Reinhart opened the business after visiting board game lounges in other cities. Connor, who is a chef, and Dylan, who is an educator, grew up in Peterborough playing board games with their family. (Photo courtesy Boardwalk Board Game Lounge)
Connor and Dylan Reinhart, brothers and co-owners of the Boardwalk Board Game Lounge in downtown Peterborough, know that everyone has a different comfort level at this stage of the pandemic.
Even though they are again offering indoor dining and game play under step three of Ontario’s reopening plan, Connor and Dylan have decided to also keep their patio and at-home options running so everyone has a way to enjoy the Boardwalk’s games and food.
People who are comfortable doing so can again come inside to play games from the Boardwalk’s library of over 550 games, while enjoying food and drink from the game lounge’s menu. The brothers are doing everything they can to ensure their customers feel safe.
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Inside the game lounge, tables are spaced six feet apart and hand sanitizer is available at every touch point. Since games are now quarantined for 24 hours after they are played, Connor and Dylan have invested in extra copies of their most popular games to ensure they are always available for guests who want to play them.
The brothers have worked hard to ensure their customers’ experience is as similar as possible to how it used to be pre-pandemic while also being as safe as possible.
“If someone who is a little less supportive of our restriction comes in and is a little inconvenienced because we’re taking these extra steps, it’s better to have them complain than to have any single person feel uncomfortable or unsafe in our space,” Dylan tells kawarthaNOW. “We’re getting positive feedback. We’re seeing that people are grateful we are taking these steps and going above and beyond.”
As well as games, Boardwalk Board Game Lounge offers in-person dining and takeout. Co-owner Connor Reinhart, a Red Seal certified chef, brings his cooking expertise to the business, offering customers a delicious menu, including items like this popular mac-and-cheese dish. (Photo courtesy Boardwalk Board Game Lounge)
Dylan adds it’s been heartwarming to welcome guests back inside the Boardwalk space after more than a year of various pandemic-related closures.
“It’s so nice the games are getting played,” he says. “It’s so nice to see people coming together and playing together in a way that we haven’t been able to do over the past year.”
Throughout the past 16 months, the Boardwalk has found other ways of connecting its customers, both with their board games and with their food. This past spring, Dylan and Connor reopened their patio and signed up for Skip The Dishes and Uber Eats to offer guests takeout. Both options remain available for customers even though guests can now play and eat inside as well.
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The brothers first added the patio last summer when the government only permitted outdoor dining experiences. According to Dylan, they tried to capture as much of the original Boardwalk experience as possible while taking into account outdoor factors such as wind and weather.
“We thought very critically from a table perspective,” Dylan explains. “What kind of tables are going to be the best for playing games on as well as eating and drinking on? We thought not only about how we would build a patio, but how we would build a patio that works for us.”
As the brothers did not want to give up the board game component of their business, so they went through their game library to choose patio-friendly games only. For example, they opted not to offer games that used cards, which could easily blow away in the wind. While there were 20 games available to play on the Boardwalk’s patio last year, Connor and Dylan have doubled the number this year by weatherizing more games.
Boardwalk Board Game Lounge co-owners Dylan and Connor Reinhart have weatherized a selection of games to be played outdoors on their patio. Although all of their games are already laminated, they have selected board games that do not uses cards that can easily blow away. Dylan brings his experience as an outdoor educator to the business by teaching people to play the games in a smart and fun way. (Photo courtesy Boardwalk Board Game Lounge)
Since all of the patio games are protected against the elements, this has allowed the brothers to also offer “messier” food items on the patio. Some of these options, such as tacos, have remained on the menu for indoor dining, and Dylan says he expects them to remain as permanent menu items.
With more people staying at home during the pandemic and looking for something fun to do, Dylan and Connor also decided to expand their retail selection of games. Although they always had a few of their most popular games available for purchase at the lounge, they decided to offer even more games for sale.
Dylan says they began to offer contactless delivery right at the onset of the pandemic, before it became common. They also built an e-commerce platform into their website for online ordering. These changes were crucial in helping the business make it through the provincial lockdowns.
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“We were constantly out-performing our retail sales and seeing more people buying and then returning to buy more,” Dylan explains. “It helped us keep the lights on and keep surviving, so on the other side of all this, we can still be here for people to come and play games while they eat and drink.”
This past spring, Connor and Dylan launched another pandemic option for guests who want to have a board game experience but from the comfort of their own home. On the fourth Monday of every month, the Boardwalk hosts a virtual game night called the ‘Roll & Write Club’.
“A roll-and-write game is a type of game where you do something like rolling dice or flipping cards — some randomizing element — and, based on that, you write something on a piece of paper,” Dylan explains. “They’ve been a very popular style of game. They’re typically portable. They’re typically puzzle-y.”
The Boardwalk Board Game Lounge offers the Roll & Write Club with a virtual game night on the first Monday of every month. Roll-and-write games are small and portable games that involve players rolling dice and marking the results on sheets of paper or erasable boards. (Photo courtesy Boardwalk Board Game Lounge)
According to Dylan, roll-and-write games work well for virtual play, so they are a great way to replicate the in-lounge game experience when customers couldn’t come inside to play.
“We thought there was a cool opportunity for us to use them to give people the opportunity to come together and play games together again even if we couldn’t operate the same space,” he says.
Every month, the Boardwalk selects a featured roll-and-write game that club members will play together over Zoom. The Boardwalk team explains how to play the game, and then everyone participating will play at least one complete game together.
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People can opt-in for the Roll & Write Club at three different levels. Level one includes the virtual game night and a print-off scorecard. Level two includes a laminated scorecard and a snack and a drink. Level three includes a snack and drink as well as a full copy of the featured roll-and-write game. It’s an option that has proved so popular than Dylan and Connor have continued to offer it even though the lounge is open again for in-person play.
“We’re excited about continuing to flesh out this idea of the Roll & Write Club, which has been a fun thing for us,” Dylan says. “We’re starting to think about what that kind of concept looks like in a post-COVID world when people can come inside and play.”
Dylan and Connor recognize that, although they are taking every measure to keep their customers safe when they come inside the lounge to play and eat, not everyone feels comfortable doing so. So the brothers are continuing to offer customers the choice to play games inside, outdoors, or in their own homes.
In addition to indoor and patio dining, Boardwalk Board Game Lounge offers take-out through Skip the Dishes and Uber Eats. (Photo courtesy Boardwalk Board Game Lounge)
“We’re doing our best to offer as many varied experiences as we can so that, whatever way people are comfortable having a Boardwalk experience, they can,” Dylan says.
Dylan adds he and the rest of the Boardwalk team are eager to welcome customers back to the lounge. During the provincial lockdowns, board games continued to be released and the Boardwalk has a lot of new games in their library for customers to try.
“We’re thankful for all the support we have received over the past couple of months,” Dylan says. “We’re grateful for any support anyone provides by having those experiences with us in the months and years to come.”
Located at 261 George Street North in downtown Peterborough, the Boardwalk Board Game Lounge is open from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and 1 to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. To learn more about the café and board game lounge and to browse their online retail selection of games, visit their website at www.boardwalkptbo.ca, where you can also find links to their social media channels.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 694 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 7 to 695.
Of Ontario’s 34 health units, 2 are reporting triple-digit increases (Toronto with 121 and Peel with 104), with 12 reporting double-digit increases — York (98), Windsor-Essex (74), Hamilton (74), Ottawa (44), Durham (38), Niagara (20), Simcoe Muskoka (16), Halton (16), Eastern Ontario (14), Waterloo (14), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (13), and Middlesex-London (12) — and 4 reporting no new cases at all.
Of the new cases, 69% are people who have not been fully vaccinated (58% have not received any doses and 11% have received only one dose) and 24% are people who have been fully vaccinated with two doses, with the vaccination status unknown for 7% of the cases.
Hospitalizations have increased by 12 to 226, but (as is always the case on weekends) more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for yesterday’s daily bed census, so the number of actual hospitalizations is likely higher. The number of ICU patients has increased by 2 to 160 and the number of ICU patients on ventilators has decreased by 5 to 93. There were no new COVID-related deaths yesterday.
Over 20.7 million vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of 17,767 from yesterday, with more than 9.9 million people fully vaccinated, an increase of 11,692 from yesterday, representing just over 67.1% of Ontario’s total population.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from July 30 – August 29, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from July 30 – August 29, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, and the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario from July 30 – August 29, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered and the green line is the cumulative number of people fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 33 new cases to report over the weekend, including 18 in Hastings Prince Edward, 12 in Peterborough, 2 in Northumberland, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Haliburton.
An additional 26 cases have been resolved in the region over the same time period, including 12 in Hastings Prince Edward, 10 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Peterborough, and 1 in Northumberland.
The number of active cases has increased by 9 in Peterborough, by 6 in Hastings Prince Edward, and by 1 in Northumberland, and has decreased by 8 in Kawartha Lakes.
There are currently 76 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 8 since August 27, including 40 in Hastings Prince Edward (19 in Belleville, 10 in Central Hastings, 7 in Quinte West, 2 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 1 in North Hastings), 23 in Peterborough, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, and 4 in Northumberland. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,687 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,642 resolved with 22 deaths), 1,229 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (1,175 resolved with 58 deaths), 969 in Northumberland County (948 resolved with 17 deaths), 127 in Haliburton County (126 resolved with 1 death), and 1,269 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,217 resolved with 12 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Hastings Prince Edward on July 28.
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