Peterborough Public Health will be requiring volunteers, coaches, and officials over the age of 18 who are participating in organized sports to provide proof of vaccination and proof of identity each time they enter an organized sports facility.

While the Reopening Ontario Act requires anyone 18 years or older entering a facility for organized sports (including parents or guardians) to provide proof of vaccination and identity, guidance from the Ontario Ministry of Health exempts workers or volunteers, including coaches and officials, from the requirement.

“The provincial requirements related to organized sports have exempted volunteers, coaches, and officials, putting vulnerable individuals at risk,” states Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Peterborough’s medical officer of health, in a media release.

“Given that these individuals will have close and prolonged contact with unvaccinated youth players, I am requiring proof of vaccination for these individuals, in addition to the individuals prescribed by provincial legislation.”

To that end, Peterborough Public Health is issuing a letter of instruction that will be enforceable under the Reopening Ontario Act (see below).

All volunteers, coaches, and officials 18 years of age and over who are participating or associated with an indoor organized sport will have to confirm proof of vaccination (or proof of being entitled to a medical exemption) and identification each time they arrive at the facility.

Ontario’s new proof of vaccination and identity requirements come into effect on Wednesday, September 22.

PDF: Letter of Instruction from Peterborough Medical Officer of Health – September 17, 2021
PDF: Letter of Instruction from Peterborough Medical Officer of Health - September 17, 2021

To mark Pride Week in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong, Peterborough Pride and ReFrame Film Festival are presenting a free week-long virtual screening of the acclaimed documentary film P.S. Burn This Letter Please.

The theme of the 19th annual Pride Week, which begins today (September 17) and runs until September 26, is “Change Starts Here”.

“The gay or queer rights movement was born out of a need for fundamental change to end the oppression, discrimination, and violence against 2SLGBTQ+ individuals,” reads a media release from Peterborough Pride organizers.

“Over the last 50 or so years, we have seen laws change to end the oppression and to provide equal rights. That said, violence and discrimination against People of Colour and Black, Indigenous, and Queer individuals has continued. We all have to actively make the changes to the culture that perpetuates these injustices.”

The film P.S. Burn This Letter Please exemplifies the theme. Co-directed by Jennifer Tiexiera and Michael Seligman, the documentary explores a box of letters, discovered in a Los Angeles storage locker in 2014, that were written in the 1950s by a group of New York City drag queens — a time and place when “masquerading” as a woman was illegal and penalties were swift and severe.

The film uses original interviews, never-before-seen archival footage, and photographs and stylized recreations to tell the stories of Lennie, Robbie, George, Michael, Jim, Henry, Claude, Tish, and Terry — former drag queens now in their 80s and 90s — and to reveal how they survived and somehow flourished at a time when drag queens were both revered and reviled, even within the gay community.

VIDEO: “P.S. Burn This Letter Please” trailer

“The government sought to destroy them, then history tried to erase them, now they get to tell their story for the first time,” reads a description of the film.

P.S. Burn This Letter Please is available for free streaming online from September 18 through September 26 at watch.eventive.org/reframesummerseries/play/6143a554b5f52b0ecf39f515.

ReFrame Film Festival also hopes to have another virtual film screening for Peterborough Pride 2021 next week.

Due to the pandemic, Peterborough Pride will not be holding a parade or any large gatherings during this year’s Pride Week. However, there are lots of virtual events and smaller in-person events happening during Pride Week.

You can see what’s happening during Pride Week at peterboroughpride.ca, where you can also learn more about the theme of this year’s Pride Week and the history of Peterborough Pride.

Cobourg police have released the name of a Town of Cobourg employee who was arrested on Saturday (September 11) and have provided details of the charges against him.

Michael Dale Orleck, 27, of Hamilton Township has been charged with sexual assault, mischief to property under $5,000, and criminal harassment.

Police arrested Orleck on Saturday but say they did not release his name at the time “to protect the integrity of the investigation and ensure the victim’s privacy,” according to a media release.

However, the investigation has revealed information suggesting there may be other victims, and police have released Orleck’s photo.

Police are encouraging anyone who feels they may have been a victim of a sexual assault, which includes any non-consensual contact of a sexual nature, to come forward and report the incident to police. There is no statute of limitations for sexual offences, and offenders can be prosecuted well after the date of the offence.

Police say Orleck worked at the Cobourg Community Centre but have not indicated his position there, or whether any of the allegations against him occurred while he was on the job. Police say he is prohibited from being at the arena until the conclusion of the court proceedings.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Detective Sergeant John Linney at 905-372-6821 ext. 2229 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at stopcrimehere.ca.

Orleck was released from custody with strict conditions and will be in court at an unspecified date in October.

New Canadians Centre in Peterborough will be supporting the resettlement of a group of 78 Afghan refugees, who will be arriving in Peterborough on Friday (September 17).

The Canadian government will be resettling around 20,000 Afghan refugees, many of whom helped Canadian soldiers and diplomats during the fight against the Taliban. The refugees include women leaders, human rights workers, and journalists who (along with their families) would be targeted by the Taliban now that it has once again seized control of Afghanistan.

In an email, New Canadians Centre’s executive director Andy Cragg says he expects many of the refugees will be staying in Peterborough for four to eight weeks but will want to live in the Toronto area permanently.

Almost 2,000 Afghan refugees have already arrived in Toronto, where many are expected to settle to be close to family and friends. COSTI, the main settlement agency in Toronto, is supporting their resettlement.

While the 78 Afghan refugees are in Peterborough, New Canadians Centre will provide them with temporary housing, help them meet their basic needs, deliver basic orientations to life in Canada, and help them find permanent accommodations.

“While we know this will be a big challenge, we are excited at the opportunity to contribute to the national effort to resettle Afghan refugees,” Cragg writes. “And we are confident that you and many other members of our community will be ready and willing to lend a hand.”

Once the Afghan refugees arrive in Peterborough on Friday, New Canadians Centre will be assessing their needs. The organization is requesting that people do not drop off donated items at its office as it does not have the capacity to process them; New Canadians Centre will issue a call for items once it has assessed the needs of the refugees.

If you want to help, New Canadians Centre suggests you:

• Create hand-made cards and drawings to welcome the refugees to Canada and drop them in the organization’s mailbox at 221 Romaine Street in Peterborough by Friday. New Canadians Centre will give the cards and drawings to the refugees when they arrive in Peterborough.
• Be a welcoming and inclusive community member. “Arriving in a new community having fled war and crisis can be extremely stressful,” Cragg writes. “Being friendly and welcoming to all goes a long way to making our newest residents feel good as they get to know their new community, make friends, and start over in a new country.”
• Volunteer to support resettlement programs. New Canadians Centre is currently assessing needs and processes for volunteers. Check the organization’s website at nccpeterborough.ca/get-involved/volunteer/ for updates.
• Provide affordable housing. If you are a landlord or property manager who can provide affordable and safe housing for refugees, email New Canadians Centre at ncc@nccpeterborough.ca.

Highway 7 in Havelock is closed after a fatal collision at the intersection with County Road 30 on Thursday morning (September 16).

According to the Peterborough OPP, at around 4:45 a.m. a passenger vehicle was stopped behind a commercial motor vehicle at the traffic lights when it was struck from behind by a tractor trailer

The driver of the passenger vehicle was prounced dead at the scene. Police will not release the identity of the victim until next of kin has been notified.

The collision ignited a fire within the commercial motor vehicle, which was carrying explosive materials.

Police initiated a shelter-in-place order for residents, which has since been lifted after the area was deemed to be safe by employees of the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre, operated by the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Directorate of Transport Canada.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation. Highway 7 in Havelock will remain closed for several hours while police measure and document the scene. Detours are in place.

This story has been corrected and updated with details about the incident from an OPP media release.

As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt points out, “the human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.” Today’s youth are and will be most impacted by how we do or do not take climate action in the coming years. We need to hear their stories and be moved to action by them, for them. This week we are sharing a story from Georgia MacKinnon, a recent Katimavik volunteer with GreenUP.

If you told me in January 2021 that come July 2021 I would be living in a house with 10 other Canadian youth, volunteering for GreenUP in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough, there is no way I would believe you. Yet here I am. This summer I packed up my belongings, left my home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and joined my Katimavik cohort.

Katimavik is a nationwide program focusing on volunteerism and truth and reconciliation. Youth participants spend five months in several different host cities, taking on meaningful work with local organizations as well as committing to weekly truth and reconciliation learning and other community-building initiatives. I’m two months into this adventure and it has already been life changing.

Ever since I was a little girl the natural world has piqued my interest, whether I was stopping in every neighbour’s yard to sniff their flowers or gardening alongside my family. Upon arrival here in Peterborough, I was happy to discover a local non-profit with a focus on the environment on our list of possible volunteer placements.

I began my volunteer work with GreenUP by helping with their Girl’s Climate Leadership Program. Between bike rides and building planter boxes, it was inspiring to see future leaders being introduced to possibilities and hope for sustainable, inclusive ways of living on our planet.

After my time with the Girl’s Climate Leadership Program, I went on to work with Active School Travel Peterborough, specifically focusing on School Travel Planning. School Travel Planning is a community-based process that uses data to identify barriers to active modes of school travel (like walking, biking, wheeling, or busing) and develop school-specific action plans to address those barriers.

I worked on survey data analysis, mapping applications, communications, and promotions, and on developing tools for stakeholder engagement. I travelled to Lakefield by taking the new rural transit bus, The Link, which connects Curve Lake First Nation with the Township of Selwyn and the City of Peterborough. I attended the local farmers’ market to help promote the School Travel Planning project coming to the Township of Selwyn.

This experience has helped me refine my future plans. I came into Katimavik knowing that I would like to attend university for something involving social justice, science, and environmental action. During my time volunteering with GreenUP, I learned about the field of environmental engineering.

While helping out at the Girl’s Climate Leadership Program, I had the privilege of meeting Jen Feigin, a founding member of a sustainable building school called the Endeavour Centre. Her talk of engineers inventing new sustainable building materials sparked my interest in the field of environmental engineering.

My experience has helped me to recognize that youth like myself are able to get involved in climate action and make a difference. For example, when I was in elementary school, I joined a group of students and with the help of a teacher we founded our school’s composting system.

This composting program is still up and running, almost 10 years later. I am proud to think of how I helped reduce 10 years’ worth of methane emissions by diverting that food waste out of our city’s landfills and into composting. These actions may seem small at the time, but the impact matters.

Youth can take many steps towards climate action: finding active and alternative ways to travel to and from school and work, volunteering with local environmental non-profits, bringing a garbage bag and gloves on walks with family or friends to pick up trash along the way, or growing some vegetables at home to reduce food shipping impacts.

For youth like myself who are 18 and older, an important climate action can be registering to vote in the upcoming election and reminding others to do so as well. Climate justice and climate action are political.

Growing up during the climate crisis can leave one feeling defeated. Media coverage of our changing planet is overwhelming. Volunteering with GreenUP and participating in Katimavik have also taught me the importance of taking time to focus on yourself and debrief.

I would like to remind young people engaging in climate action to take time to rest and to have fun. My Katimavik house schedules multiple self-care blocks weekly and we’ve taken time to get outside and play sports or games together.

We must also celebrate the small wins that society and individuals are making towards a sustainable future. Taking the time to read about discoveries and victories that people across the earth, young and old, have made can be a pleasant thing to do on days when the media seems to be only negative.

The experiences I’ve had over the past few months have shown me that you are never too young to make a difference and that climate action is possible. We need every young person to do their best in the fight for our climate.

Overcome inaction and the fear of being imperfect. There are so many amazing people working hard in their communities and recognizing everyone’s efforts is a step in the right direction.

If more youth can experience the kind of education I’ve been privileged to have access to with Katimavik and GreenUP, we, as a global community, can be hopeful for a better future.