Kirkfield-area families will have more access to child care when a new centre opens in 2025.

Compass Early Learning & Care (Compass ELC) has announced it is expanding its child care services in the Kawartha Lakes with the purchase of a building at 1047 Portage Rd.

Previously owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough and before that the site of St. John Catholic Elementary School, Compass ELC said it intends to open a child care program with 49 spaces for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in the area.

Renovations will begin shortly, a media release noted, with a request for proposals being tendered this fall and an anticipated opening in 2025.

Compass ELC, in partnership with the City of Kawartha Lakes, said the Kirkfield community was identified as the number-one priority area based on lack of access to licensed child care, and the needs in the surrounding area.

“We are so fortunate to have such strong and capable partners willing and able to bring forward this project and we already know that the children will receive the highest quality and excellent care while in the hands of the Compass family,” said Janine Mitchell, manager of human services, in a media release.

Compass ELC will offer 10 spaces for infants (0 to 18 months), 15 spaces for toddlers (18 to 30 months), and 24 spaces for preschoolers (30 months to six years) for a total of 49 spots.

The project has so far received “enthusiastic support” from the City of Kawartha Lakes, the media release noted.

“We couldn’t have done it without the support from our community partners, such as the wonderful children services team and other city staff such as the planning and building department staff,” said Jill Wickins, organizational link for operations with Compass ELC.

Compass ELC is giving a shout-out to Cheyenne Weatherall, a Kirkfield resident and Compass ELC team member, who sensed a need for child care in the community and initiated a proposal when she saw the property was put up for sale.

“We believe that all communities deserve access to high-quality, affordable early learning and care and, as a not-for-profit enrolled in the Canada-wide early learning and child care $10/day child care plan, we are excited to expand access to Kirkfield and the surrounding communities,” said Ashley Collins, co-CEO of Compass ELC.

“We are grateful to work collaboratively with so many caring team members, including our board of directors, and the City of Kawartha Lakes staff to support the communities we serve.”

With the upcoming expansion of child care services, Compass ELC is recruiting area early childhood educators and support staff to join its team. Those interested in applying can contact careers@compasselc.com.

For families, Compass ELC will release details about a waitlist and registration information in 2025 when a projected opening date is in sight.

Compass ELC is a network of more than 700 employees and 80 home child care providers who serve more than 5,000 families in Peterborough County, City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County, Durham Region and Northumberland County.

In Budget 2021, the federal government set out to establish the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System, which involves working with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to build a Canada-wide, community-based system of quality child care.

“This will be a transformative project on a scale with the work of previous generations of Canadians, who built a public school system and public health care,” the federal government noted in a backgrounder about the initiative.

The government said the COVID-19 pandemic “shifted the public understanding” around how access to child care supports children, their families, and the economy. “The clear benefits of early learning and child care should not be a luxury for only the Canadian families that can afford it. Lack of access is not a choice, nor are unaffordable fees. The current system is leaving too many children and families behind, particularly low-income and racialized families.”

Investing in early learning and child care provides jobs for workers (the majority of whom are women), enables parents (particularly mothers) to reach their full economic potential, and “it creates a generation of engaged and well prepared young learners,” the document noted.

Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for part of the northern Kawarthas region for Wednesday afternoon and early evening (September 25).

The severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for northern Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County.

Thunderstorms are expected to develop and move across the region Wednesday afternoon.

Along with heavy downpours producing 30 to 50 mm of rain and hail up to 2 cm in diameter, there is also the risk of a tornado.

Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads, and large hail can damage property and cause injury.

Emergency Management Ontario recommends that you take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches.

The Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes communities are holding events and hosting moments for reflection to mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Monday (September 30) is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is set aside to honour the children who didn’t return home from Canada’s former residential schools and to recognize survivors, their families and their communities. Declared as a statutory holiday by the federal government in 2021, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is also intended to provide space for people to think about the ongoing, intergenerational impacts of residential schools.

“The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important opportunity to reflect on our histories, learn about the injustices committed against Indigenous communities, and dedicate ourselves to contribute toward reconciliation,” said City of Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal in a media release. “As a community, we need to take meaningful action to fulfil our collective commitment to reconciliation. I encourage everyone to take part in the activities organized by groups across our community.”

The Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer Street North, 705-745-5382) is hosting activities for adults and teenagers, which include:

• Friday, September 27: Quilling with Sandra D. Moore
• Thursday, October 10: Just Get Over It: Exploring Stereotypes, Biases and Racism Between Indigenous Peoples and Settlers
• Thursday, October 17 through to Tuesday, October 22: Secret Path Film viewings

The library is also offering the following activities for children:

• Friday, September 27: PA day – Rabbit & Bear Paws – The Way with Chad Solomon
• Thursday, October 17: Indigenous Bilingual Story Time

The Peterborough Museum and Archives (300 Hunter Street East, 705-743-5180) is offering an “Every Child Matters” reading centre and children’s activity throughout the month of September. The museum is also providing Every Child Matters stickers, buttons, and bookmarks to encourage participation and learning through its National Day for Truth and Reconciliation activities. For more information on the Peterborough Museum and Archives, visit peterborough.ca/museum.

The “Watershed” exhibition is on display at the Art Gallery of Peterborough (250 Crescent Street, 705-743-9179) until Sunday, October 6. The show features work by Mary Anne Barkhouse, John Boyle, Brad Copping, Liz Magor, Stan Olthuis, Amanda Strong, and Olivia Whetung.

At Artspace from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday (September 27), the launch and celebration takes place of the Maker Space Mural, “Niimikaage: she/he dances for a purpose,” by Anishinaabe artist Josh Morley (Miskopwagan Asin).

On Saturday (September 28) from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Mnoominkewin Wild Rice Festival is presenting the fifth annual Mnoominkewin Gathering at Curve Lake First Nation’s Lime Kiln Park. The day of festivities celebrating mnoomin (wild rice) and community and food sovereignty includes a sunrise ceremony, traditional teachings, opportunities to plant, gather and “dance” mnoomin, music, mnoomin-themed meals, and a free screening of the 2024 documentary “Singing Back the Buffalo” courtesy of the ReFrame Film Festival. The Link bus will be providing free shuttle trips to the gathering. For more information and to register for the free event, visit www.mnoominkewin.com.

On Monday (September 30), the City of Peterborough will fly the “Every Child Matters” flag at city hall to officially mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Meanwhile, the City of Kawartha Lakes will officially recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a flag-raising ceremony at city hall in Lindsay at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 27.

“Residents are invited to attend the flag-raising ceremony to reflect upon the painful history and lasting impacts of Canada’s residential school system and to reaffirm Kawartha Lakes’ commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples,” the municipality noted in media release.

“Residents planning on attending the event are encouraged to wear orange to commemorate the devastating, continued impact of the residential school system, to honour the children who never returned home, the survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.”

Check out all Kawartha Lakes Public Library branches or displays featuring First Nation, Métis, and Inuit authors. The Bobcaygeon, Dalton, Fenelon Falls, Little Britain, Lindsay, Norland, and Woodville branches will be offering a free beaded necklace activity for kids, plus a free “Orange Shirt Day” magnet-making station for adults on Saturday (September 28). As well, the Lindsay branch will be hosting “Talking Circles for Truth and Reconciliation” for both children and adults at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively on Monday (September 30).

For more information on Indigenous books and resources available at the Kawartha Lakes Public Library, visit kawarthalakeslibrary.ca/indigenous.

On Monday (September 30) at 5 p.m., Truth and Reconciliation Community Bobcaygeon and the Mishkodeh Centre for Indigenous Knowledge will host a rain-or-shine remembrance ceremony at Bobcaygeon’s Boyd Museum (21 Canal Street East, 705-738-9482) featuring the Unity Drummers as well as Curve Lake First Nation Knowledge Keeper Anne Taylor and Community Educator Brittany Taylor. After the ceremony, attendees will carry memorial orange stones representing children who never returned home from residential schools to the new Bobcaygeon Beach Park Friendship Garden known as Gdinuhwendimin (“We are related”).

All events are free and open to the public, according to the municipality. “We encourage community members to attend and participate in any of these meaningful activities.”

Aside from attending events in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and other communities in the Kawarthas region, there are also a few other ways to observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation:

• Wear orange and take time to reflect and learn more about residential schools, the Indigenous children who never returned home, and the lived experiences of the survivors, their families, and communities.
• Participate in one of the free lunch-and-learn webinars offered by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation daily at 1 p.m. until Friday (September 27). Wednesday’s topic is “Impacts and addressing Indigenous identity fraud” with speakers Michelle Cyca and residential school survivor Dickie Yuzicapi, Thursday’s topic is “A community perspective of United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” with speakers Marilyn Buffalo and Megan Lewis, and Friday’s topic is “How do we address the barriers to reconciliation?” with Dr. Eva Jewell and residential school survivor Levinia Brown. For more information, visit trw-svr.nctr.ca/lunch-and-learns/.
• Tune into the 90-minute commemorative gathering “Remembering The Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.” Presented in English, French, and Plains Cree, the event will be broadcast live from Parliament Hill in Ottawa starting at 3 p.m. on Monday (September 30). You can watch on APTN, APTN Languages, and on all CBC broadcast and streaming platforms, as well as participating television and radio stations across the country.

You can help the Peterborough Humane Society win $20,000 by voting for their “Never Too Late” video, one of five finalists in the 2024 People’s Choice Wagsies Awards and the only Canadian entry.

You can vote at hillspet.com/wagsies-awards once per day until one minute before midnight on Thursday (September 26). The video that receives the most online votes will win up to $20,000, with second place winning $10,000.

Released for a holiday campaign last December, “Never Too Late” tells the story of an elderly gentleman bearing a gift for someone named Lucy.

With its full title “It’s never too late to fall in love again,” the video was created and donated by Peterborough-based creative agency Unmanned.

“We really wanted to encourage the community to either adopt or if they can’t adopt, donate, or if they can’t donate, help spread the message and awareness about these animals in need,” Unmanned co-founder and chief marketing officer Kyle Christie told kawarthaNOW last December.

In the minute-long ad, an elderly gentleman — played by Christie’s own grandfather — crafts what appears to be a leather belt in his workshop, before wrapping it as a gift and readying himself to meet someone named Lucy.

VIDEO: “It’s never too late to fall in love again”

After leaving his house carrying the gift, the man arrives at his destination and waves a greeting at a smiling woman who emerges from a building to meet him.

The ad’s big reveal is that the man has actually arrived at the Peterborough Animal Care Centre. The woman is a volunteer who brings the man a dog named Lucy he has adopted, and the man’s gift is a leather collar for Lucy.

The touching and heartfelt video is obviously resonating with those voting online for the Wagsies Awards. The only Canadian video among the five finalists, “Never Too Late” was leading the voting at the time this story was published.

However, a video called “Beware of Bullies” by Missouri’s APA Adoption Center was only a few hundred votes behind in the voting.

The other videos up for contention are “Scotty Adoption” by Pasado’s Safe Haven in Washington, “Cadbury Paws” by Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA in Virginia, and “A Lifesaving Haven” by Houston SPCA in Texas.

Presented by the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and the Hill’s Food, Shelter & Love program, the Wagsies Animal Welfare Video Awards are described as “a celebration of the incredible work shelters do for pets and our communities.”

With files from Megan Gallant.

Over 900 trees and shrubs were planted in Peterborough by volunteers on Saturday (September 21) during two different projects.

Otonabee Conservation worked with 59 volunteers to plant 300 trees and shrubs along the shoreline of the Otonabee River at the Riverview Park and Zoo in an event supported by TD Tree Days, a program that contributes to the TD Ready Commitment target of helping plant one million trees by 2030. Participating in the program since 2021, Otonabee Conservation has has helped plant over 2,500 trees and shrubs locally.

The native species planted on Saturday included fragrant sumac, nannyberry, serviceberry, gray dogwood, and chokeberry. Not only do these species will support natural diversity and help to mitigate climate change, but they will provide shade and stabilize soils along the shoreline, supporting the efforts of the Riverview Park and Zoo to naturalize the shoreline of the Otonabee River.

Meanwhile, in Kiwanis Community Park, 60 volunteers helped plant 620 new trees to enhance the city’s urban forest canopy as part of Tree Canada’s Community Tree Grant program and the Trees 4 Peterborough initiative.

The Rotary Club of Peterborough, Peterborough GreenUP, Otonabee Conservation, the LCBO, RBC Dominion Securities, the Excelsior Group, Peterborough Homes, and Merrett Home Hardware all supported the project.

A diversity of native tree species were planted at the park to replace around 400 dead or dying ash trees that succumbed to the emerald ash borer. The dead or dying trees, along with understory vegetation that was predominantly invasive buckthorn, were removed in August.

In a surprising reversal of a vote at the previous week’s general committee meeting, Peterborough city council voted in favour of a heritage designation for a historic property at 1400 Monaghan Road known as The Martin House during the regular city council meeting on Monday night (September 23).

The heritage designation prevents the current owner of the property, GTA-based J & J Developments, from tearing down the building or making modifications that would destroy heritage features of the building. The company had purchased the property in late 2023 with the intention of demolishing the building and redeveloping the property’s large lot for a six-storey residential housing complex.

In a report presented to general committee last Monday (September 16), the city’s Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (PACAC) had recommended the building be designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as being a property of cultural heritage value or interest to the City of Peterborough.

Located on the northeast corner of Monaghan Road and Homewood Avenue, The Martin House was built between 1930 and 1931 for local businessman Herbert Samuel Martin — an innovator in the emerging industry of corrugated containers in the early 20th century — by Henry Thomas Hickey.

Hickey was a prolific contractor who worked on more than 100 buildings in Peterborough, including the old Hunter Street Post office in 1906, the duplex at 5 Fleming Place in 1916, and the Hunter Street Bridge in 1920. He also worked on buildings in Toronto, Bethany, Curve Lake, Lindsay, and other locations.

“1400 Monaghan Road has cultural heritage value or interest as a unique example of a residence for an affluent owner executed in a blend of the Spanish Colonial and Georgian Revival styles in Peterborough,” reads the PACAC report. “The residence retains many of the original exterior features which define the Spanish and Georgian Revival styles as well as residential design reflecting social and technological changes following the First World War.”

“The residence integrates seamlessly into the Old West End, a neighbourhood which reflects the emerging ideals of interwar suburbanization. With its carefully conceived design, massing, and materiality 1400 Monaghan Road is a sympathetic and significant contributor to the overall character of the turn-of-the-century neighbourhood.”

When considering the heritage designation at the September 16 general committee meeting, councillors had discussed the current condition of the building, which was allowed to fall into disrepair by the previous owner and whose interior has been damaged by a water leak, as well as the developer’s concepts for redevelopment of the property.

The general committee vote to designate The Martin House as a heritage property lost 4-6, with councillors Joy Lachica, Alex Bierk, Keith Riel, and Gary Baldwin voting in favour and councillors Don Vassiliadis, Dave Haacke, Andrew Beamer, Kevin Duguay, Lesley Parnell, and mayor Jeff Leal voting against. Councillor Matt Crowley was absent from the meeting.

When considering the heritage designation at the September 23 city council meeting, councillors heard a delegation from John Cooper, principal of J & J Developments.

“The severe damage inside the building was a result of neglect by the previous owner after eight years of being vacant,” Cooper said with respect to the building’s condition. “Given the house was in such a state of disrepair, we developed a vision of revitalizing the site to meet the needs of this growing community.”

Cooper said his company hired Peterborough-based architectural firm Unity Design Studios (formerly Lett Architects Inc.) to “prepare early concepts for the site” and the company is in the “very early stages” of preparing to file a rezoning application to the city.

“While we deeply respect Peterborough’s rich history and the importance of preserving its heritage, this designation request would effectively kill our proposed development without providing us the opportunity to go through the public application process required by the Planning Act,” Cooper said. “Had the property been designated prior to our purchase, we most certainly would not have bought it.”

Councillor Lachica asked Cooper if he was aware the property was listed in the City of Peterborough’s heritage register. The heritage register is a list of properties identified as having cultural heritage value or interest that are designated or could be designated.

“We understood it was listed,” Cooper said.

“So you understood it could be designated before the end of the year, which has now been extended by the province to two years in order to have listed properties be designated?” asked Lachica. “You knew that when you purchased it, then?”

Lachica was referring to the province’s requirement under the More Homes Built Faster Act for municipalities to review their heritage registers by January 1, 2025, identifying properties on the registers that would be designated and removing other properties from the registers so they could be made available for potential development.

Cooper replied that, while his company was aware the property was listed on the heritage property, at no point did the city’s heritage staff inform them of their intention to designate the property.

Following Cooper’s delegation, Peterborough lawyer and former city councillor Ann Farquharson spoke in favour of the designation of The Martin House, pointing out that the developers purchased the property “for a bargain” — $1.1 million according to Farquharson — with the intent of tearing down the building so the lot could be developed.

“You don’t go and decide to tear down one of the most spectacular properties in the city to use it as a vacant lot,” said Farquharson, suggesting the building could be used for other options such as an art gallery, or the developer could rehabilitate the building or recoup their investment by selling to someone else who would restore the building.

“If they’ve spent more than than on architects and everything, well, that’s presumptuous — they shouldn’t have done that,” she said. “If they wanted to demolish, they should have come to council for a demolition permit. They would have had to give you 60 days’ notice (for a property listed in the heritage register) and you would have had to decide whether it was worthy of designation. They didn’t do that.”

Later on in the meeting, councillors returned to the heritage designation item, with the discussion involving many of the same points made at the previous week’s general committee meeting.

Councillor Haacke reiterated his concern about the city designating a heritage property against the wishes of the owner, something councillor Parnell agreed with while also repeating her concerns about the unsafe condition of the interior of the house, although she admitted she has not seen the inside of the house.

Councillor Bierk reiterated his support for the heritage designation, noting that the designation does not preclude any development on the property.

“By us designating this site tonight, it doesn’t negate the developers from working with our staff to come back to the drawing — to come to the drawing board, not back — to come to the drawing board and work with our staff within some of the parameters that the designation will set,” he said. “I truly do believe there is a solution to be found here for everybody.”

“For us tonight, we’re looking at the importance of preserving sites — not this site but sites like this — and we can’t go back from it. Once that house is demolished, we can’t get it back.”

City council then voted 6-5 in favour of the heritage designation, with councillors Lachica, Bierk, Riel, Baldwin, Vassiliadis, and Crowley voting for the designation and councillors Haacke, Beamer, Duguay, Parnell, and mayor Leal voting against it.

The difference from the general committee vote is that councillor Vassiliadis changed his vote and councillor Crowley, who was absent from the general committee meeting, voted in favour of designation.