The Ontario government is approving seven more regions — Durham, Halidmand-Norfolk, Halton, Hamilton, Sarnia-Lambton, Niagara, and York — to enter stage two of the province’s reopening as of Friday, June 19th.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at a media conference at Queen’s Park on Monday (June 15), along with health minister Christine Elliott, finance minister Rod Phillips, economic development minister Vic Fedeli, and heritage and tourism minister Lisa MacLeod.

In consultation with Ontario’s chief medical officer of health and local medical officers of health, regions of the province covered by the following health units can enter stage two on Friday: Durham Region Health Department, Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, Halton Region Health Department, Hamilton Public Health Services, Lambton Health Unit, Niagara Region Public Health Department, and York Region Public Health Services.

Peel, Toronto, and Windsor-Essex remain in stage one for now.

“With the public health trends improving day by day across the province, I am hopeful all regions of Ontario will enter stage two very soon,” Ford said. “But we must remain on our guard to prevent any potential surge or secondary wave by continuing to follow the sound advice of our public health officials.”

Ford made the announcement as the number of daily positive COVID-19 cases across Ontario continues to drop, with the number of new cases falling below 200 in three of the past four days.

The drop in new cases continues despite a significant daily increase in COVID-19 tests, with more than 20,000 tests completed in each of the past five days — passing the one million mark in total tests completed on Sunday (June 14).

The number of Ontarians hospitalized because of COVID-19 has also continued to drop. As of Monday (June 15), 419 people are in hospitals due to COVID-19, with 104 in intensive care units and 69 on ventilators. A month ago, 986 Ontarians were hospitalized because of COVID-19, with 179 in intensive care and 135 on ventilators.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Peterborough Transit routes are getting an overhaul beginning on Sunday, June 28th, when regular service hours also resume.

There will be nine regular routes instead of 12 — with fewer routes going directly into the bus terminal on Simcoe Street in downtown Peterborough — as well as three new community bus routes.

According to a media release from the City of Peterborough, the changes are intended to protect the health and well-being of transit customers and employees as ridership increases during the reopening of Ontario’s economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the biggest changes is the reduction of routes that go directly into the bus terminal. While all 12 current routes go directly into the bus terminal, only five of the nine new routes will go into the terminal.

“Bringing all transit routes into the bus terminal at the same time creates congestion and doesn’t allow people to stay a safe distance from each other during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Mayor Diane Therrien. “The changes to the route system will create a safer public transit service for our community during the pandemic recovery.”

Although fewer routes will go directly to the bus terminal, all routes in the new system will connect with other routes. This means riders who want to go to the bus terminal can still do so by transferring between routes.

All routes are changing under the new transit network, giving riders options for more direct trips. The route changes may also reduce travel times for riders by providing more direct point-to-point trips instead of having to transfer at the bus terminal.

In addition to the nine regular routes, there will also be three community bus routes serving major destinations such as medical centres, shopping centres, and community hubs.

With the new routes, some bus stop locations are also changing. Riders are encouraged to view the new route map and schedule, which will be posted at the bus terminal and are available online at peterborough.ca/transit. Transit customer service ambassadors will be at the bus terminal and onboard buses to help customers as they get comfortable with the new route system.

In addition to reducing congestion at the bus terminal and on buses, Peterborough Transit is putting other measures in place for the safety of customers and employees, including masks, face shields, and gloves for bus drivers. Protective shields are being installed around the driver’s area and transit will continue enhanced cleaning of buses and high-touch surfaces.

Seating limits will remain in place to support physical distancing on buses, and riders are strongly encouraged to wear masks and use hand sanitizer. Riders are being asked to continue to board buses at the rear doors only, unless they need to use the accessibility features at the front doors.

While fares are not being collected at this time, Peterborough Transit is putting in place measures for touchless payment and onboard safety that will allow for front-of-bus boarding. These changes will be announced when they are available.

When regular service hours resume, essential workers will be able to access conventional routes to key locations across the city. This means that by-reservation essential worker service will be discontinued, and accessible transit services will expand to regular hours to accommodate mobility customers.

The federal government will be extending the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) for Canadians who are unable to return to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on Monday (June 15) during a media conference from outside his home in Ottawa.

“In the last few weeks, things have started to look up for a lot of people,” Trudeau said. “But that said, we also know that far too many Canadians are still struggling. If you’re having troubles finding a job, you shouldn’t also be worrying about whether you’ll hit the limit of your CERB benefits.”

CERB provides a payment of $2,000 per month for a maximum of 16 weeks, retroactive to March. Canadians who applied for CERB every month since the payment became available received their final payment in June.

“Right now we’re working on a solution to extend the benefit for people who can’t return to work yet.” Trudeau added. “We’ll have more details later this week. But for today, I want you to know that we will continue to be there for you and your family.”

Last Wednesday (June 10), the federal government tabled legislation that proposed extending CERB from July 5th to October 3rd, but with payments made in two-week instead of four-week periods. Draft bill C-17 also included penalties for people who fraudulently receive CERB with a fine of up to $5,000 or a fine and imprisonment of up to six months.

The legislation, which also authorized a one-time payment of $600 related to COVID-19 to people who are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit, was not supported by the opposition parties. The NDP, which supports the extension of CERB, objected to the proposed penalties that would also apply to Canadians who may have unintentionally received CERB as well as to fraudsters.

The City of Peterborough has cancelled the weekend closure of George Street between McDonnel and King streets in downtown Peterborough.

The street was immediately reopened to vehicles mid-day on Saturday afternoon (June 13) and will remain open for the remainder of the weekend.

The city had closed the section of George Street at 3 p.m. on Friday (June 12) in an attempt to provide additional space for pedestrians to maintain social distancing.

City council made the decision to close the street the previous day, in response the Ontario government’s announcement that restaurants, bars, cafes could reopen their patios on Friday and the expectation that restaurants on George Street would be opening pop-up patios through a fast-track process.

However, partly because of the cool weather on Friday, there were few pop-up patios. Restaurants on George Street that don’t have patios suffered from the lack of accessibility to their businesses, as did retailers who lost business from customers with cars.

Terry Guiel, executive director of the Peterborough Downtown Business Area (DBIA), told the Peterborough Examiner on Friday that the closure was a “debacle” and that he was “was on damage control with angry shop owners.”

“Based on feedback after the first day, the city is reopening the road to vehicles,” says the city’s manager of communication services Brendan Wedley in a media release. “The city apologizes for the confusion.”

The city still plans to make longer-term changes to public space in the downtown area over the next couple of weeks to provide additional space for pedestrians by changing vehicle traffic lanes and on-street parking.

With every meal served at Peterborough’s La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant, a Hunter Street destination since 2002, owner Sandra Arciniega celebrates everything she loves and misses about her home country.

Sandra enjoys people and entertaining, which drew her to tourism management studies while at university in her hometown of Guadalajara in Mexico. After graduation, she met her future husband while on a celebratory trip with university friends and, after six months of a long-distance relationship, she followed her heart to Toronto and, eventually, she and her new husband made the move to the cottage country community of Buckhorn.

It was a massive cultural change for Sandra as a recent newcomer to Canada, but she took it all in and made the most of new opportunities.

“I always loved hosting friends and family without appointment,” Sandra recalls. “I have always loved my culture and good food and, when I got pregnant, I was craving so much of what I had left behind.”

Sandra’s pregnancy cravings were so strong she decided to open a restaurant to recreate and share the feasts and the flavours that she was missing. When she stumbled upon the unique space on Hunter Street in downtown Peterborough, she knew she had the perfect ingredients to pursue her dream.

“The spot was so beautiful,” Sandra says. “It had a good feeling and it was time for Peterborough to have some ethnic food in the area.”

Sandra says La Hacienda lets her celebrate each day. Sometimes those days are long, and the money is not going to make anyone rich, but she says everything she missed was brought to life in the cozy restaurant that has stood the test of time over the past 18 years.

Sandra raised her kids and her restaurant at the same time, and sometimes there was jealousy — but there was also pride in their mother’s accomplishments.

“When they started hearing from friends and teachers that it was someone’s favourite place to eat and had the best food, they were proud and it was okay with them,” Sandra laughs.

That pride got her kids through some tough times — experiencing the feeling of being different and of not being white. Eventually, the kids embraced their culture and now there is much more happiness.

Sandra notes how the Peterborough community has changed over the years. The community is more multicultural and, from the range of ethnic foods to the variety of languages people speak, there is far more diversity.

This diversity has always played a part in how Sandra runs her business. She provides employment for many newcomers to Canada, making sure everyone has a chance to be successful and to put down roots.

“I don’t just sell food,” Sandra explains. “Stories are shared in a plate. Everything is fresh and flavourful — we share emotion with food for your soul.”

Sandra has focused on that food-to-soul connection since the COVID-19 pandemic hit small businesses across the region. The team at La Hacienda has faced each new challenge with the understanding they are an important part of Peterborough, and that they matter to community.

Through it all, Sandra keeps focusing on opportunity.

“We closed for the first 10 days and then we decided to try take-out and delivery,” Sandra says, her voice wavering. “I was even making the deliveries myself, and the response from people was so beautiful my heart was broken with happiness. I kept hearing how we were needed, and how much the food meant to people.”

Sandra says she has always been an independent worker, but she’s grateful for the support from the Peterborough community — not only from customers who continue to order food but also from her landlord and from her family.

“I do this because of what it means to people,” she explains. “This is a time when to make food means even more. With passion you can do anything, but for now I just have to do a little and expand as I can.”

Despite the uncertainty of how long restrictions will stay in place during this life-changing pandemic, Sandra and her team are doing their best to stay connected to the community and to be as responsive as possible to the community’s needs.

“Right now, I want to keep giving people something to be excited about,” Sandra says. “And this is what I need to do to help.”

La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant serves authentic Mexican dishes based on family recipes, from scratch and using fresh seasonal ingredients. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options are available.

Located at 190 Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough, La Hacienda is open for take-out and patio sit-down dining from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday (temporary reduced hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic). For patio reservations, call 705-742-1559. For more information, email info@lahaciendaptbo.com or visit lahaciendaptb.com. You can also connect with La Hacienda on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This year, the New Canadians Centre is celebrating 40 years of welcoming and supporting newcomers, and the annual Multicultural Canada Day Festival is an important part of this history. The festival brings our community together for a celebration of our country’s birthday and the multiculturalism that is core to Canada’s national identity.

Newcomers and their families have grown to be part of the rich cultural fabric that binds our community together. “Peterborough Is My Home” — our chosen home that we love, cherish, and support. This year’s Multicultural Canada Day programming embraces this sentiment and has been adapted to reflect physical distancing guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To learn more about other #PtboIsMyHome activities and events leading up to and on Canada Day, please visit nccpeterborough.ca. You can also follow New Canadians Centre on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

The Ontario government has increased the number of people who are permitted to attend weddings and funerals.

When originally announcing Ontario’s stage two reopening plan on Monday (June 8), the government had increased the limit on weddings and funeral attendees from five to 10 people.

Now that limit has been further increased to 30 per cent of the capacity of the venue where the wedding or funeral is behind held or, in the case of outdoor ceremonies, to 50 people.

The changes came into effect on Friday, June 12th at 12:01 a.m.

“With recent progress to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we are able to ease restrictions on these special ceremonies,” says health minister Christine Elliott. “We have taken deliberate steps to increase testing and increase our ability to track and contain this virus. As we loosen these measures, I strongly urge everyone to remain careful and cautious as we are all still at risk.”

The 30 per cent capacity limit for indoor ceremonies is now the same as the new limit for attendees at places of worship in Ontario, which the government also announced on Monday.

For both indoor and outdoor ceremonies, attendees must practice physical distancing by remaining two metres away from people who are not from the same household or in their established 10-person social circle.

It should be noted that the loosened restriction applies only to wedding and funeral ceremonies, not to receptions.

The maximum number of people allowed to attend indoor or outdoor wedding and funeral receptions remains at 10 people.