On Sunday, September 19th, runners will depart form the DePave garden on Water Street in Peterborough for the second bi-annual Monarch Ultra Relay Run.

The previous Monarch Ultra relay run in 2019 saw 46 runners follow the monarch butterfly’s migratory route from Peterborough, Canada, to Macheros, Mexico. The run raises awareness about the plight of the monarch butterfly.

Starting the same day as the run two years ago, this year’s Monarch Ultra will remain north of the border due to the pandemic and travel 1,800 kilometres across southern Ontario.

Carlotta James, Monarch Ultra co-founder and project director, notes that although the run is a bit different this year, it still has the same mission as the 2019 run.

“Our mission and message are the same, but the route and the communities we’re running through are completely different,” explains James. “We’re still running for monarch butterflies. We’re running to raise awareness and as a call to action to protect the environment.”

This year’s run will take runners from Peterborough southwest through Toronto, Burlington, Hamilton, Saint Catherines, and Niagara Falls before heading towards London, Cambridge, and Kitchener, and looping back to Barrie. The 1,800-kilometre run will take runners through Ontario’s cities, towns, greenways and lakeshores along the Trans Canada Trail and the Waterfront Trail. On Saturday, October 9th, the 21-day run will come to an end in Barrie.

PDF: 2021 Monarch Ultra schedule
2021 Monarch Ultra schedule

“I’m excited to see the Trans Canada Trail and the Waterfront Trail,” James says. “They’re accessible. They’re bike-friendly. They’re for walking, running, and exploring. Those trails have been welcoming of a running project like the Monarch Ultra.”

The route change has caused some other changes to the relay run this year as well. While runners collectively travelled 100 kilometres a day in 2019, they will run 80 kilometres a day this year. James explains they had to consider the fall weather in Ontario, noting that their runners need to be finished for the day before sunset.

Each morning, two ultra runners will begin a 50-kilometre run at 8 a.m. and finish around 1 or 2 p.m., depending on their pace. Another two runners will pick up exactly where the first two left off and run 30 kilometres,

In addition to raising awareness of the declining populations of the monarch butterfly, an important pollinator, this year’s run is raising funds for Camp Kawartha, a local non-profit organization that helps to educate future environmental stewards.

James says they decided to link up with Camp Kawartha because they’re a “fantastic” non-profit teaching today’s youth the importance of protecting nature.

“They are doing such good work to empower the next generation of earth stewards through their nature programming,” James points out. “We thought they would be an awesome partner for the Monarch Ultra. Because we’re not running to Mexico, we’re staying in our province and that’s another reason that made us decide to support a local organization rather than an international one.”

VIDEO: Monarch Ultra 2021 by Rodney Fuentes

You can donate to Camp Kawartha’s environmental stewardship programs for youth through the Monarch Ultra Run through their Race Roster webpage. Camp Kawartha will issue charitable tax receipts for all monetary donations of $25 or more.

So far, the Monarch Ultra has raised $4,100 for Camp Kawartha.

This year, the Monarch Ultra has also launched a virtual run for those who would like to support their cause but are not long-distance runners. Participants raise funds from friends and family and then walk, hike, or bike 10 kilometres. The 115 participants in the virtual run have so far raised $2,500 for Camp Kawartha.

James says that supporting a local charity is one of the many silver linings to holding the run in Ontario for a year.

“We get to galvanize the province of Ontario and get many communities excited, connected, and united on this front,” James notes. “We are getting to know our own backyard, and that’s pretty neat.”

While James will miss the Mexican food and culture this year, she wants to focus on the positives of running across Ontario and looks forward to running to Mexico again in 2023 — COVID permitting.

“Mexican people are very welcoming and hospitable and fun,” says James. “When they heard about the Monarch Ultra, there was a festival almost every single day of our two-week stay.”

“Canadians are full of joy as well, so we’re going to have some fun time in our own province too,” she adds. “We’re not going to think about the things we’re going to miss. Instead, we’re going to think about the things we’re going to inspire and create.”

One thing James hopes will not change for this year’s run is how it inspires and educates people along the way. She says that in every community they ran through during the 2019 run, they took the opportunity to talk to people about the decline of pollinators including monarch butterflies and the environmental destruction caused by human beings to their habitat.

“For us, education is really big, and it’s also an eye-opener,” says James. “We met so many people who didn’t know that monarchs even migrate, or that they’re in decline, or that they need milkweed to survive.”

“Once people get inspired, they’ll educate their own families and communities,” she adds. “So it’s a ripple effect.”

A documentary about the Monarch Ultra Relay Run is currently in production. James believes it will be another great educational tool that will be shown to thousands of schools, people, and communities.

The Monarch Ultra team is also heading up a ‘Mini Monarch Ultra Run,’ where kids can run during their breaks and lunches to raise money and awareness for the cause.

“Kids will tally up their kilometres, and then there is a national total,” explains James. “We’re hoping to have tens of thousands of kilometres run by youth and students across schools in Canada.”

There will also be a call to action attached to the run that will encourage schools and children to build pollinator gardens or to expand existing ones.

Creating a call to action is what inspired James in the first place to co-found the inaugural Monarch Ultra Run, following the monarch’s migration route from Canada to Mexico.

“We can change our lawns into pollinator habitats,” James explains. “We can reduce the use of pesticides. We can healthily raise monarchs, or at least provide food for monarch butterflies in our gardens.”

This year’s run will have pandemic protocols in place to make sure everyone stays safe. Only two runners are en route at a time, meaning there is plenty of space for physical distancing. In addition, any water, food, or gel for runners will be sanitized at rest points. People not running who cannot physically distance themselves will be required to wear a mask.

James hopes to garner support and encouragement for Monarch Ultra runners from communities along their route. Her dream, she says, is to have people cheering on the runners every hour of the relay run.

To keep up with the run and find out where you could stop by and show your support, follow the Monarch Ultra on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

“We will do lots of social media stories,” James says. “Two years ago, we had about 40,000 people following us on Facebook.”

The relay run still has 20 vacant spots for ultra and long-distance runners to fill. James is committed to filling those spots if they remain vacant, but hopes to have them filled by the start of the run on September 19.

“Come on, people,” she urges. “We need you to sign up. We need your legs. We need your voice.”

To register as a runner for the relay run, visit raceroster.com/events/2021/40048/monarch-ultra-relay-run. A complete map of the route is also available at https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1422512.

Visit the Monarch Ultra website at themonarchultra.com for more information about the run and its mission.

With the COVID-19 delta variant driving a fourth wave of the pandemic in Ontario, the provincial government is making vaccination policies mandatory for all high-risk settings — including hospitals, ambulance services, and home and community service providers — no later than September 7.

The government will also be requiring the same for all colleges and universities, retirement homes, women’s shelters, and congregate group homes and day programs for children and vulnerable adults.

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, announced the directive on Tuesday (August 17).

“For the last several weeks, I have been unwavering in my pleas for all eligible Ontarians to step up, roll up their sleeves, and get vaccinated,” Dr. Moore said. “I said time is of the essence, but now that time is here. We must take assertive action to protect the health and safety of all Ontarians, especially as we move closer to a return to school and the cooler weather drives us indoors.”

At a minimum, the vaccination policies will require employees, staff, contractors, students and volunteers in high-risk settings to provide either proof of full vaccination against COVID-19, a medical reason for not being vaccinated against COVID-19, or completion of a educational session about the benefits and risks of COVID-19 vaccination. In addition, those who do not provide proof of full vaccination will be required to undergo regular testing and demonstrate continued negative results.

“The delta variant is more transmissible, and has resulted in a reintroduction of COVID-19 in some high-risk settings,” Dr. Moore said. “These are settings where individuals are at a higher risk due to age or their health conditions or co-morbidities and we need to better protect them.”

Dr. Moore said that organizations will have the authority to implement more stringent COVID-19 vaccination policies above the minimum requirements if they choose to do so.

For employees of publicly funded school boards, staff in private schools, and staff in licensed child care settings, the Ministry of Education will introduce a vaccination disclosure policy that will require rapid antigen testing requirements for staff who are not immunized against COVID-19.

The province will also require vaccination policies to be implemented in post-secondary institutions, licensed retirement homes, women’s shelters, and congregate group homes and day programs for adults with developmental disabilities, children’s treatment centres and other services for children with special needs, and licensed children’s residential settings.

Ontario will also begin offering third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to those at highest risk from the delta variant, including transplant recipients, cancer patients undergoing treatment, recipients of an anti-CD20 agent (used to treat diseases such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia), and residents of high-risk congregate care settings including long-term care homes, higher-risk licensed retirement homes, and First Nations elder care lodges.

Effective Wednesday (August 18), the province is also extending eligibility to receive the Pfizer vaccine to children who are 11 years old and turn 12 before the end of the year. Appointments can be made through the provincial booking system, through public health units, or at pharmacies or walk-in vaccination clinics.

While 81 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, another 400,000 Ontarians need to be vaccinated before Ontario reaches its target of having 75 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated.

While the government says it expects to reach the 75 per cent target in August, Dr. Moore also announced Ontario will be staying in step three of the province’s reopening plan until further notice “out of an abundance of caution.”

When asked by a reporter while the province waited this long to implement these directives, Dr. Moore said the decision was made due to lower-than-expected vaccination rates.

“We had a sudden drop-off over the last several weeks and, quite honestly, we have to rebolster our efforts to immunize Ontarians,” he said. “It was unexpected to have such a sudden drop-off, and we’ve learned more about the threat of delta. It is now over 90 per cent of the detected samples in Ontario, and we are now seeing our rates of illness go up and we’re seeing our hospitalization numbers go up.”

Opal, a nine-month-old Australian Shepherd puppy, has been reunited with her Cobourg owners after police recovered their stolen pick-up truck and charged a 31-year-old Clarington woman with theft.

Gavin Bergsma and his wife Claudia Woodruff had been frantically searching for Opal since last Wednesday morning (August 11), after the couple’s 2015 Dodge Ram pick-up truck was stolen in Durham Region.

Bergsma had parked his truck on Simcoe Street, near the intersection of Scugog Line 3 just south of Port Perry, to check on a well’s water level as part of his job. Opal was in the truck and, because temperatures were in the 30s, Bergsma left the engine running with the air conditioning on.

As he walked about 30 feet into a bush area, he noticed someone approaching on a bicycle but didn’t give it any thought. However, after he emerged from the bush, he saw the cyclist steal his truck with Opal still inside.

After reporting the theft, Bergsma and Woodruff searched the area and started posting flyers in Port Perry and Oshawa the following day. Durham police posted about the theft of Opal and the truck on social media and sent a detailed bulletin to neighbouring police services. Lost animal search group Team Chelsea also shared the incident.

Police received multiple leads from the public, including one tip that the stolen vehicle and a potential suspect had been seen in the town of Gooderham in Highlands East in Haliburton County.

Officers from the Haliburton Highlands OPP responded to the lead on Monday (August 16) and located the stolen truck and Opal.

As a result of the investigation, police have charged Kaila Grech, 31, of Clarington with two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.

She was held in custody pending a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday (August 17).

Exactly five months after it first opened, the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Evinrude Centre in Peterborough is closing.

Peterborough Public Health announced on Monday (August 16) it will be closing the clinic this week, and will instead begin offering pop-up clinics at locations throughout the city and county of Peterborough in August and September.

Walk-in vaccinations (no appointment needed) will be available at the Evinrude clinic from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, with the final clinic running from 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday (August 19). All Peterborough-area residents over the age of 12 who require a first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are eligible for to receive their vaccine without an appointment.

The Evinrude Centre clinic first opened on March 19, 2021, providing first-dose vaccinations for Peterborough-area residents 80 years and older.

The vaccine clinic at Peterborough Regional Health Centre will also shut down this week, with walk-in and by-appointment vaccinations available from 8 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

All future pop-up vaccination clinics offered by Peterborough Public Health will be walk-in only, with no appointment needed, so the provincial booking system will not be used.

Dates and locations for upcoming pop-up clinics will be available on the Peterborough Public Health website at peterboroughpublichealth.ca/walkin.

The Ontario government also announced on Monday it is requiring public health units and publicly funded school boards to work together to host vaccination clinics in or near schools, with clinics expected to run before school starts and during the first few weeks of school.

“Having vaccination clinics at our schools will make it more convenient for students to receive their vaccine in a familiar and comfortable environment and will help to ensure a safer and sustained reopening of our schools,” says Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, in a media release.

The clinics will provide first and second doses, on a voluntary basis and with informed consent, for eligible students as well as educators and school staff.

As of August 15, more than 69 per cent of youth aged 12 to 17 have received a first vaccine dose and 56 per cent have received a second dose.

Canadians will be electing a new federal government on Monday, September 20th.

As expected, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Sunday morning (August 15), where he asked Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament, triggering a snap election.

The election will take place in 36 days, the shortest election campaign allowed under federal law, and during an emerging fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the Delta variant.

The Liberals hope to be re-elected for the third time, but this time with a majority. By calling an election now, Trudeau avoids the possibility of a non-confidence vote bringing down his two-year-old minority Liberal government — potentially at a time that is more advantageous for the opposition parties.

Trudeau is taking a calculated risk in triggering an early election. He is counting on Canadians rewarding his government for its handling of the pandemic (including a world-leading vaccination rate), on opposition parties being unprepared for the brief election campaign, and for the election to take place before the fourth wave of the pandemic gets worse.

While the Liberals are currently ahead in the polls (an August 12th Leger Marketing poll has them at 35 per cent support, compared to 30 per cent for the Conservatives and 19 per cent for the New Democrats), their lead is not enough for a majority government.

Both the Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh have said an election is unnecessary and risky during the pandemic. While Elections Canada has stated a vote can be conducted safely during the pandemic, it has also cautioned vote counts could be delayed because of mail-in voting.

In the greater Kawarthas region, only the riding of Peterborough-Kawartha — which is the only riding in the region held by a Liberal — currently has candidates representing all four major federal parties. For the first time in that riding, all the candidates are women.

Incumbent Maryam Monsef, who was the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, will be up against three political newcomers: Michelle Ferreri of the Conservatives, Joy Lachica of the NDP, and Chanté White of the Green.

Here are the candidates named so far for the four major federal parties in the other ridings in the greater Kawarthas region:

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock

Jamie Schmale, Conservative (incumbent)
Judie Forbes, Liberal
To be determined, NDP
To be determined, Green

Northumberland-Peterborough South

Philip Lawrence, Conservative (incumbent)
Alison Lester, Liberal
To be determined, NDP
To be determined, Green

Hastings-Lennox and Addington

Derek Sloan, Independent (incumbent, elected Conservative)
Mike Bossio, Liberal
Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative
Steve Garrison, NDP
To be determined, Green

Fall in the Kawarthas isn’t the same without an agricultural fair and, after going virtual last year due to the pandemic, the Lindsay Exhibition (LEX) will be taking place in person in 2021 — running an extra five days to allow for limited capacity due to physical distancing.

The 167th annual fair will open on Friday, September 17th and run for a full 10 days until Sunday, September 26th. It will feature traditional favourites including midway rides and games, fair food, livestock shows, a demolition derby, and a country music concert.

To keep the fair COVID-safe, capacity limits will be in place for buildings and the grandstand and people will be required to wear masks indoors and at the grandstand shows, including at the country music concert. All midway staff will be required to be fully vaccinated.

“We tried to find a balance between holding an authentic Lindsay Exhibition with all the elements that people expect and minimizing the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus,” states LEX general manager Harry Stoddart in a media release. “We will be meeting or exceeding all the regulations put in place by the Ontario government and the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit.

Other events returning to the 2021 fair include The WoofJocks Canine All-stars, DooDoo the Clown, and Amberley Beatty’s Patsy Cline tribute show — part of an entertainment line-up that will also include a number of local bands and entertainment acts.

New events for 2021 include evening rodeos, a market turkey show, and a horse scenting demonstration — horses trained to locate people in search and rescue.

“We’re excited by the possibility of holding a traditional LEX and giving our community and exhibitors something to enjoy during these challenging times,” says Lois Batty, president of the Lindsay Agricultural Society, which hosts the annual fair with the help of volunteers.

“We already have 25 teams committed to the horse pull, almost double the field we had in 2019. We’ve been planning for almost a year to be able to hold as safe an event as possible during the pandemic.’

Tickets are free on September 17 and 20 to 22, $5 on September 18, 19, and 23, and $10 on September 24 to 26. Admission is always free for children five and under.

Tickets are $10 (in admission to fair admission) for the Demo Cross, Rodeo, and Demo Derby.

Tickets for the Friday night concert at 7:30 p.m., featuring the James Barker Band with opening act Andrew Hyatt, are $40 (ticket price includes $10 LEX admission on Friday).

To accommodate COVID-19 capacity limits, all tickets (including free tickets) must be purchased online in advance.

Coupons for the midway, presented by World’s Finest Shows, are only available in person at the midway (no advance passes).

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit lindsayex.com.

The story has been updated to include ticket prices.