To mark our nation’s 150th celebration of Confederation, the Peterborough-based Streets of Canada initiative has launched a new campaign featuring a collection of short stories and photographs about Canadian business owners, artists, and unsung heroes from coast to coast.

“When Canada 150 came up, we realized that there are a lot things going on to celebrate Canada and its values as a whole,” says Sana Virji, entrepreneur and Streets of Canada co-founder. “Among all of the celebrations of Canada’s accomplishments and history, we want to honour the present and the people all around us today-the innovators, creators, dreamers, and unsung heroes. For us, Canada isn’t about a sports team, a flag, or a monument-it’s about dreaming big, working together, being kind, and accepting of all.”

Since launching in late November, Virji and her business partner, Ribat Chowdhury — both owners of the smartphone app Ribbet — have been travelling across Ontario and Canada to showcase the vibrant personalities of individual Canadians. The result of these efforts is now a vibrant catalogue of photographs featured alongside quotes and anecdotes published on Streets of Canada’s website and social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

VIDEO: Streets of Canada

“No matter what the story, you feel a sense of connection to the person narrating, whether it’s the café owner who has an eating disorder, the musician who came to Canada as a refugee and is unable to go back to his home country without persecution, or the activist who grew up in foster care,” Virji says. “These are the people we interact with every day, and their stories are inspirational, honest, and show Canada’s diversity and acceptance.”

Streets of Canada is on a mission to show that Canada is more than just hockey and maple syrup. They plan to collect and share 1,000 stories of Canadians from all walks of life-who they are, where they came from, what they do, what drives them, their hopes, their fears, their past, and their pride. Up to now, five Peterborough residents have been profiled, along with other individuals residing in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Toronto.

To help Streets of Canada reach its goal, people can visit www.streetsofcanada.com/nominate to nominate an entrepreneur, artist, or anyone who you think has a great story to tell. An individual can also nominate themselves and share their own story.

Just a few days after Jane Fonda’s reference to be wary of “good-looking Liberals”, the actress and outspoken activist missed a stellar opportunity this morning (January 13) in Peterborough to actually get up close and personal with the federal Liberals’ leading man.

On the second day of what will be a cross-Canada meet-and-greet with Canadians, Trudeau hosted a town hall-style meeting at the Evinrude Centre in Peterborough

For the some 400 mostly pro-Liberal audience members who jammed the meeting space — all had to register prior, bringing cries of foul from the opposition parties that the Liberal Party is deviously gathering names for its database of supporters — the 45-year-old Prime Minister Trudeau delivered the charm and casualness that has been at the centre of his public appearances since his election in 2015.

But there was substance in the mix, particularly as it pertained to the federal government’s stance on various environment-related matters. However, the most emotional exchange involved a Buckhorn single mom’s struggle to deal with rising hydro costs, which falls under provincial jurisdiction.

“My heat and hydro now costs me more than my mortgage,” said Kathy Katula, a personal support worker at Extendicare Lakefield, choking back tears while holding up her hydro bill.

“How do you explain to a woman how she’s supposed to pay a hydro bill of $1,085? How do you justify to a mother of four children, three grandchildren, with physical disabilities, working up to 15 hours a day, asking me to pay a carbon tax when I only have $65 left from my paycheque every two weeks to feed my family? I’m putting my faith in God, and you that you’re going to make my country a place that we can prosper again (but) I make $50,000 a year, Mr. Trudeau, and I’m living in energy poverty.”

In response, a visibly moved Trudeau acknowledged his government’s putting a tax on carbon “is something we’ve moved forward on” and admitting it’s “causing consternation amongst a broad range of people.” But he added “we are in a time of transition” and that moving away from reliance on fossil fuels is “a good thing.”

“We are facing a challenge where we have to change behaviours. It’s important that those change happen in a way that doesn’t penalize our most vulnerable. We are leaving it up to the provinces to determine whether a carbon tax or a levy or a cap-and-trade system is right for them. It will be up to the Government of Ontario to ensure you are not penalized. We haven’t brought in any (national) carbon tax yet. It doesn’t kick in for another few years.”

We are leaving it up to the provinces to determine whether a carbon tax or a levy or a cap-and-trade system is right for them. It will be up to the Government of Ontario to ensure you are not penalized.

Afterwards, Ms Katula was at the centre of media attention.

“I understand that a carbon tax is good for our environment; I understand all these things will make Canada better. But why should someone like myself, who’s barely making it, be responsible for better transit in Toronto … for electric cars? I’ll never be able to afford that.”

“I’m not adding to the pollution, so why should I pay a couple of hundred dollars a month for the air I breathe? Take it from the companies that can afford it, not us. I hope when he lies in bed tonight he’ll think of some answers.”

Trudeau, looking refreshed despite early morning stops at CFB Trenton and Bewdley’s Rhino Roadhouse, took questions on a wide range of issues including water quality woes affecting First Nation communities, the protection of waterways, the wait times experienced by refugee claimants, and electoral reform.

The latter brought a chant of “What do we want? PR (Proportional Representation)” from a sizable number of audience members. Earlier, members of the local chapter of The Council of Canadians unfurled their banner while Trudeau was brought up to speed on the recent approval of the sale of PDI — again, a provincial matter.

However, environment-related concerns were the focus of most who were granted microphone time.

“I have said, from the very beginning, that we cannot make a choice between what’s good for the economy and what’s good for the environment,” said Trudeau. “We need to build a strong economy that protects the environment at the same time and that’s exactly what this government is committed to doing. Are we there yet? No, we’re not. Are we on the right track? Yes, we are.”

Later, he addressed one questioner’s “shock” over the go-ahead granted the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline in Alberta. The aforementioned Jane Fonda was in Alberta earlier this week voicing her dismay over the same, at which time she issued her warning to Canadians that “we shouldn’t be fooled good-looking Liberals” — a clear reference to Trudeau.

“It is a fundamental responsibility of any Canadian prime minister — it’s a historical responsibility — to get our resources to market,” noted Trudeau.

“But in the 21st century, getting our resources to market needs to be done by doing it responsibly, sustainably and including people in the process. We can’t shut down the oil sands tomorrow. We need to phase them out, to manage the transition off our dependence on fossil fuel. That is going to take time.”

“We have to make choices. The reason we were able to move forward is we actually put forward a plan to achieve our emission reduction targets. There was never a plan on how reach those targets. We’ve been able to put in a pan-Canadian framework on climate change; a pan-Canadian carbon pollution pricing goal. We are understanding how to manage this transition.”

Trudeau pointed to Alberta’s “absolute cap” on oil sands emissions, adding it’s “folded into our plan. So the question isn’t are we going to shut down the oil sands tomorrow? We’ve put a limit on oil sands emissions. Think about it. If you don’t build pipelines, you’re just putting more oil by rail, and we all know that oil by rail is more expensive, more polluting and more dangerous.”

“There were a number of very clear concerns. One of them was how can you meet your targets on climate change while you’re building a pipeline? We’re able to do that because it fits within carbon reduction framework that we have.”

As is typically the norm, there were lighter questions taken. A young boy, Dayton, asked Trudeau what it was like growing up as the son of a prime minister.

“I was an extremely lucky kid,” Trudeau replied. “I had a dad who showed me early on how important it is to work really hard and try to make a positive difference in the world.”

Later, in response to as why he chose to seek election as prime minister, Trudeau joked “What was I thinking?” before noting he “had to work really, really hard to try and be worthy of the opportunities that life had given me.”

“We have to think every day about what we can do to be worthy of those chances,” Trudeau continued. “I didn’t think politics would be my path. I figured I’d have to be old like my dad was. He wasn’t that old but he was old to me. I discovered I had a capacity to bring people together, to listen and learn from people.”

In the same response, Trudeau earned a laugh when he added he has been fortunate to meet “amazing people,” listing the Aga Khan among them.

In the aftermath of his family’s recent Christmas vacation on the billionaire’s private island — with Trudeau acknowledging he travelled on the Aga Khan’s helicopter — Conservative MPs have come at him hard, claiming that action breached the Conflict of Interest Act. In response, the Ethic Commissioner’s Office has initiated a preliminary review.

Without question, the biggest smile at Friday’s event was worn by Peterborough MP Maryam Monsef, who formally introduced her political boss to open the proceedings.

In return, Trudeau noted he remains “incredibly proud of” convincing MP Monsef “who wasn’t sure if she was a Liberal, who wasn’t sure if she wanted to get into federal politics, to step up and run here in Peterborough.”

Following his Peterborough stop, Trudeau headed off to the next tour stop of London, Ontario. Later, he’ll visit communities in Quebec, the Prairies, and British Columbia, followed by the Atlantic provinces and the North.

All photographs by Linda McIlwain for kawarthaNOW.

With two ministerial appointments to her name, a cross-country tour to each corner of the country, and myriad community involvements, Maryam Monsef looks the picture of courage and grace.

So when Sandra Dueck, the moderator at the Women in Politics panel held last night at the Holiday Inn, asked the Peterborough-Kawartha MP to identify the hardest part of campaigning for her position, Monsef’s response raised a few eyebrows.

“The hardest part, for me,” Monsef said, “was actually making the decision to put my name in the race — working up the courage to do that work, that’s the hard part.”

Monsef was one of three local female politicians on the panel at the January meeting of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough (WBN).

The panel spanned age, length of career, background and political vision: joining Maryam Monsef was Peterborough Councillor Diane Therrien and Selwyn Mayor Mary Smith.

Monsef told the 150 WBN members and guests in the crowd — all women — that her interest in politics came naturally but the inspiration to serve was a gift.

“My whole life has been affected by politics,” she said, referring obliquely to her history as a refugee. The decision to run came after more than a dozen people encouraged her. “That was a tipping point for me.”

On the other hand, Mayor Mary Smith comes from a family of male politicians. Her father was on council for more than 40 years, and her grandfather also served municipally. Yet, she says she “never dreamt” she would enter politics.

It was only after she was passionately involved in her community on matters of the environment and rural outreach that she was poised to consider politics when a position on the municipal board opened. And then, it was the encouragement of others on the council, that prompted her to put her name forward.

Smith has just completed 19 years in politics and was recently also named Deputy Warden of Peterborough County.

“It’s an incredible career,” she told the women in the room. “The opportunities to learn, the people I’ve met. It’s incredible to think how much you stretch yourself when you engage in politics.”

Diane Therrien grew up asking the same questions she asks every day as one of Peterborough’s newest city councillors — why and why not?

Yet again, it wasn’t until her local community encouraged her that the idea of entering politics became a plan.

The Women in Politics is part of a new direction for WBN, which made a strategic decision last spring to become more “deliberately” active in politics.

“We felt we should have a powerful voice beyond the business platform,” said WBN president Mary McGee.

And powerful it was, according to WBN members and guests who attended.

WBN member Kemi Akapo said the message she took away is that everyone has the potential to get involved in creating change.

“It’s never just one person running for political office,” she said. “It takes an entire community.”

“Be heard; get your voice out there,” said member Karen Laws. “And don’t think your voice doesn’t matter. It does.”

And for Dr. Catherine Owens the message was about courage.

“Each of the panelists talked about how they reached deeply into themselves and then took that passion public. To me, that’s awesome and inspiring.”

Speaking of inspiring women, in March the WBN will host Peterborough’s first-ever International Women’s Day Conference, featuring CBC Radio host Candy Palmater, career expert Sarah Vermunt, and veteran actress Linda Kash as keynote speakers. The conference takes place on Wednesday, March 8th — International Women’s Day — at the Ashburnham Reception Centre in Peterborough.

Monsef refers to “challenges” of first year in office

Just a day after a cabinet shuffle that saw her shifted from the high-profile Democratic Reform ministry to become Minister for Status of Women — and a few weeks after she issued an apology for strongly criticizing an all-party committee in the House of Commons — Monsef didn’t directly address the challenges of her first year in office. She did, however, admit that others had acknowledged her challenges.

While the questions at the panel offered her ample opportunity to cite examples of challenges in her new political career, Monsef kept her answers general, referring to the encouragement she received from the community and the inspiration she continues to receive, especially from stories of children who look up to her.

“An Afghani woman reached out to me recently to say she knew my first year as a member of parliament had been rewarding, but also challenging,” Monsef said. “She asked me to consider this when the challenges seemed big: she said her six-year-old daughter had taken to standing in the middle of the living room pretending to be me. She said to me, it’s not just about you anymore, Maryam. It’s about her. You’ve opened a world of opportunity for my daughter.”

“I never thought there would be little girls out there who would look at me the way I look at some women mentors. It’s a tremendous responsibility.”

Smith’s political “signature” openness and transparency

Veteran politician Mary Smith says there is one thing above anything else that ignites her political spirit.

Answering a question about something she has “fought for” as a politician, Smith answered quickly.

“For me, it’s the fight for process, which is often hard,” she told the crowd. “Openness and transparency are so important,” she added. “And that can, sometimes, be a tough battle.”

Smith was elected Mayor of Selwyn in 2010 and 2014 and this month was appointed Deputy Warden of Peterborough County.

“Your voice is so important,” she said. “Your message is so critical.”

Therrien admits PDI process could have been “better”

Peterborough Councillor Diane Therrien said she’s in politics for one reason: to make things better for everyone.

A self-identified “rebellious child,” Therrien says she was dismayed when most of the talks about the sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc. to Hydro One were taking place without public input.

She was particularly concerned that there were residents in the county who would be affected by the decision, but had no forum to share their concerns and questions.

“In everything, I want to know why things are the way they are, and why they can’t be any better,” she said.

Therrien pushed for inclusive civic engagement, a move that led to a series of public meetings.

“I had to lobby hard for that,” she said. “Granted the process could have been done better. We can always do better.”