“The greatest measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable.”

As he continues his determined bid to secure justice in the late 2016 death of his brother, Yusuf Faqiri has quoted these words time and time again, never giving up hope that the end goal will be achieved.

This Sunday (December 15) at 1 p.m., Faqiri will speak at a vigil near the main entrance of the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), calling for accountability and transparency in the death of Soleiman “Soli” Faqiri, 30, who died three years ago to the day at Lindsay’s Central East Correctional Facility following an interaction with prison guards.

A subsequent post-mortem report deemed the cause of the Afghanistan native’s death as uncertain while a Kawartha Lakes Police Service investigation found no grounds for criminal charges to be laid in connection with his death.

The matter is now in the hands of the Ontario Provincial Police following an ordered re-opening of the case by Ontario’s chief coroner — a step furthered by his family’s relentless call for answers combined with a extensive January 2019 investigative report by CBC’s The Fifth Estate into the circumstances surrounding Soleiman’s incarceration and death.

“The immediate mandate (of Justice For Soli) is we want criminal charges brought against the guards involved so we can get our accountability,” says Faqiri, noting Sunday’s vigil is one of seven being held across Canada under the Justice For Soli banner, the others being in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver.

“My brother had 50 bruises, his legs and hands were tied, he was pepper sprayed twice, there was an eyewitness to his killing,” Faquiri says. “We’re not asking for something beyond reason. This is what my family deserves. Accountability for Soleiman’s death will be an important step on the road to fixing a broken system.”

According to Faqiri, what happened to his brother while he was under the care of correctional staff provides the central focus for a larger issue that continues to torment and haunt families across Canada: the vulnerability of those with mental health challenges and the all-too-often tragic outcomes that result from a lack of empathy for their condition and associated struggles.

“The goal of the vigils is to raise awareness of Soleiman’s story and the fact that people will mental illness are dying in prison,” says Faqiri.

“This is not a Lindsay story. This is not a Toronto story. This is a Canadian problem. This is a national issue. Every city has a Soleiman. Every city that the movement is going to has a loved one with mental illness die as a result of the justice system in prison. That’s why his story resonates — because this could happen to anyone.”

That said, accountability for Soleiman’s death is front of mind for Faqiri, his family, and the movement’s supporters.

“We want criminal charges against those who killed Soleiman. My brother didn’t just roll over and die. He was given to my family in a body bag. There has to be accountability and transparency. At the end of the day, the decision lies with the Ontario Provincial Police. We’re waiting for them to make the decision. It’s been which them for almost a year now.”

Faqiri adds it’s his understanding that a decision on the matter by the OPP is “imminent.”

“It was very disappointing the way the Kawartha Lakes Police Service handled the investigation,” says Faqiri, alleging an eyewitness to the his brother’s death was never interviewed.

“A year into your investigation, you send an email to the lawyers saying there are no grounds for charges?,” adds Faqiri, referring to the police investigation.

“I was shocked by the way they handled it. I believe that our justice system can do good. It just needs to be fixed. It is a closed system that lacks accountability and transparency. This movement hopes to knock on doors and break those barriers. We all deserve accountability; we all deserve transparency.”

On December 4, 2016, Soleiman, who had long struggled with schizophrenia, was apprehended by police officers acting under the authority of the Ontario Mental Health Act, following a dispute between him and a neighbour during which he allegedly stabbed her in the stomach with an edged weapon.

The following day he was remanded into custody at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay. He was placed in segregation (solitary confinement) while awaiting a mental health assessment.

Ten days later, according to a police report, Soleiman became quite agitated while taking a shower. Eventually agreeing to be handcuffed, he was escorted by guards back to his cell where his agitation heightened as he resisted entry to his cell.

After being pepper sprayed twice in his cell to negate his behaviour, Soleiman continued to resist. After he appeared to settle down, he was left handcuffed in his cell. Shortly after, he was discovered not breathing. Despite CPR and resuscitation with a defibrillator, Soleiman was pronounced dead by paramedics on December 15, 2016.

The post-mortem report listed more than 50 indicators of blunt force trauma, ligature marks on Soleiman’s wrists and ankles, and bruising on his neck. Internal injuries were also discovered during his autopsy.

“This is my family’s humble effort to see something good come out of a tragedy that I don’t wish for any family to go through,” says Faqiri.

“The way people with mental illness are treated in Canada is a black mark on our beautiful country. We’re a society that should be commended for a lot amazing things but this is an issue that needs to be fixed. We still have family members that receive their loved ones in a body bag and are not given any answers.”

Terming himself “an accidental advocate”, Faqiri says “I didn’t choose this journey. After Solieman’s death, I was compelled to make a decision. I chose standing up and fighting. I never saw where this was going to go. I am just another Canadian, raised in Ajax-Pickering. I needed to do this to honour my late brother.”

“Soleiman’s life mattered. He had hopes and dreams like everyone else. He had a family. He had a mother. He had a father. He had brothers. He had a sister. He had nephews and nieces. All of that was cut short in the very institution that was supposed to take care of him. We want to make sure that doesn’t get lost.”

“I love my brother. I was very close to him. I hope he’s watching and knows we miss him. I hope he knows people are thinking about him. I hope he knows he is being honoured every day.”

VIDEO: “A Brother’s Story” – The Fifth Estate (warning: contains graphic content)

At Sunday’s rally outside PRHC, Faqiri will speak along with Aisha Francis, the founder and executive director of Project Restore FIBI (Families Impacted by Incarceration). Faqiri will also speak at the Toronto vigil scheduled for 6 p.m. later in the day at Dundas Square in the heart of the city.

“I believe we can do good from this,” says Faqiri. “I believe we can bring about change when it’s look at from a communal perspective, not an individual perspective. Our organization is made up of volunteers across Canada that are inspired by Soleiman’s tragedy.”

“The whole point is to give other families a voice. In our bid to get accountability, there’s an opportunity to give other families hope.”

For more information on Justice For Soli, including the opportunity to donate to the organization’s efforts, visit www.justiceforsoli.com.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for possible significant snowfall during the day on Saturday (December 14) and into Saturday night.

The special weather statement applies to all of the Kawarthas except for Northumberland County.

A developing east coast storm will bring heavy snow and the risk of freezing rain to the area on Friday night (December 13) into early Saturday morning.

Any freezing rain is not expected to last long, but will transition over to snow during the day on Saturday.

The snow will then continue, heavy at times, into Saturday night with significant accumulations possible by Sunday morning.

The heavy snow, in combination with strong and gusty winds and falling temperatures, will result in difficult travel conditions on Saturday night.

For the 12th year in a row, the Peterborough Professional Firefighters are donating funds to purchase toys from The Toy Shop at 176 Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough for the annual Salvation Army Toy Drive.

This year, the firefighters are donating $2,000. The Toy Shop owner Jean Grant uses the donation to leverage deals for more than $6,000 worth of toys from her suppliers, who help with the initiative.

The firefighters will arrive at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday (December 14) with their firetruck and a crew of firefighters to pick up the toys and deliver them to the Salvation Army. “Sparky” the mascot will also be there to help lift the bags full of toys.

The donation coincides with the annual Pure Country 105 and Energy 99.7 Christmas Miracle Broadcast for the Salvation Army Toy Drive, which takes place on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lansdowne Place Mall on the upper level.

“Local 169 feels it’s important to participate in events and organizations like the Miracle Broadcast,” says firefighter and executive board member Mike O’Brien. “It’s a great way to give back and to support those in need in the community, especially the young ones.”

Grant selects high-quality toys that don’t require batteries and toys that can teach the children while they play.

“It’s all about the partnership with the firefighters, one we have had for over a decade,” says Grant. “I believe no child should go without a present.”

Terry Guiel, executive director of the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area, thanks the firefighters for brightening Christmas for local children and supporting the downtown.

“I certainly love that they also appreciate the importance of shopping local and supporting the downtown and our local toy shop,” Guiel says.

Through GreenUP’s Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods program (SUN), I work with residents, municipal staff, and other partners to re-imagine how future neighbourhoods can be more sustainable and resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Given SUN’s focus on the future, you might be surprised how often I think about the past.

As a historian, I know history can teach us important lessons about urban planning in an era of climate change.

“Environmental history asks us to consider how the natural systems around us came to be the way they are today,” explains Jennifer Bonnell, assistant professor of history at York University and author of Reclaiming the Don: An Environmental History of Toronto’s Don River Valley. “(Environmental history) encourages us to ‘read’ familiar landscapes as the outcome of a series of decisions and developments made in particular times.”

How we shape environments, from forests to cities to wetlands, reflects the dominant values and priorities of the time. According to Bonnell, “there was very little thought among mid-century planners for the integrity and sustainability of urban nature in itself. Instead, nature was something to overcome, to minimize, and in some cases, to facilitate the major infrastructure developments of the period.”

In Toronto, this meant treating the Don River Valley as a transportation corridor and resource for urban and economic growth. Similar values have shaped the landscape in Peterborough.

Consider Kawartha Heights, one of GreenUP’s SUN neighbourhoods. In the 1950s, this west end neighbourhood consisted of farms and small businesses on the edge of town — already a radical departure from the forests and wetlands protected and shaped by the Michi Saagiig Anishnaabeg for thousands of years.

Beginning in the 1960s, planners and developers carved winding streets and cul-de-sacs out of farm fields, building hundreds of single-family homes by the late 1980s. Like many subdivisions at the time, wide roads and limited sidewalks reflected urban society’s prioritization of personal cars for daily transportation. In just a few decades, the landscape had been radically transformed again.

Despite our power to alter environments dramatically, we don’t control nature nearly as well as we think we do. Environmental historians often tell stories about the ability of the natural world to shape and constrain human activity.

In cities, flooding is a prime example. East City-Curtis Creek residents know this story well. Flooding in this neighbourhood is largely a consequence of how it was developed.

After the Second World War, developers filled in the area between Armour Road and the Trent-Severn Waterway with modest houses that catered to working families. Many of these homes were built close to or even on top of Curtis Creek. Engineers corralled the creek using culverts and hard edges.

Engineers also built storm sewers to divert rainwater away from homes, schools, and businesses. Rainwater was no longer absorbed into the ground. Instead, it was directed to local waterways.

Today, many households in the neighbourhood are vulnerable to overland and riverine flooding. The stormwater network was not built to handle the volume of rain that enters the system. As climate change brings more intense rainfall events, and urban development continues to expand, the pressure on this system increases.

GreenUP’s Neighbourhood Action Plans remind residents and partners that cities are dynamic, ecological systems that can look and operate differently than they do now, especially if we work together.

As Bonnell explains, “past decisions that transformed the landscapes around us were not inevitable, nor are they always irreversible. We can build hope for different decisions, informed by different knowledge and a different relationship with urban nature in the future.”

The collaborative visions outlined in the Neighbourhood Action Plans cultivate a hopeful and more sustainable relationship with urban nature. Each plan outlines how a re-imagined neighbourhood might look, feel, and function by 2030:

The year is 2030. The impact of the changes are evident everywhere you look: native plants and wildlife abound near Curtis Creek, the urban forest is thriving, flood damage is rare, and residents have built a strong community around food gardens and local outdoor events. This small but mighty community is living together in nature.

The Neighbourhood Action Plans offer concrete actions to achieve these goals, while acknowledging there’s no silver bullet when it comes to climate change adaptation. We will need to continuously adapt to the unpredictable impacts of climate change.

Visit www.greenup.on.ca/sun/ to access the Kawartha Heights and East City-Curtis Creek Neighbourhood Action Plans and other resources to support climate change action at home and in your community.

Environment Canada has issued a snow squall watch for the northern Kawarthas, including Fenelon Falls and northern Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County.

Snow squalls are expected to develop on Wednesday evening (December 11).

Under the snow squall bands, visibility will be significantly reduced due to the heavy snow, and snow will quickly accumulate.

Between 10 and 15 centimetres of snow is possible by Thursday morning.

Travel may be hazardous due to sudden changes in the weather. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.

Public Safety Canada encourages everyone to make an emergency plan and get an emergency kit with drinking water, food, medicine, a first-aid kit and a flashlight.