The United Way will be hosting a 70th Anniversary Gala Celebration on Saturday, February 25th at The Venue. Tickets are being sold for $125 and can be reserved by calling 705-742-8839
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
Careful on the roads, we're supposed to get 5 to 10 cm today.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
This past Wednesday Rock the Ice returned to Peterborough for the third time and PtboCanada was able to chat with Elvis Stojko before he hit the ice for warm-up prior to the evening show. It was a pleasure to meet both Elvis and many of the other performers who we have all loved and respected over the years and watched the success of their careers. If you live in Peterborough and surrounding area, today is your chance to pitch your big biz idea to the producers of CBC's hit show Dragons' Den. You have until 6 p.m. to make your way to the Great Hall. The producers are asking some tough questions to determine investment potential! Here's some pics from this morning sent to us by photographer Doug Logan...
[Photos courtesy Doug Logan]
[Related: Dragons' Den Hosting Audtions In Peterborough At Trent University February 16th]
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
[CHEX]
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
[CHEX]
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
Q: Are there party politics at Peterborough City Hall? —Whitney, Peterborough
Goyette: Yes and no, but don’t give up on me just yet.
Officially, party politics do not exist at City Hall. There is no formal organization of Liberals, Greens, Conservatives, New Democrats, Communists, or any other political party that directs the work or the decision making of the elected Councillors. This is not to say that there are not well established municipal political parties elsewhere. They are a common feature of political life in Rome, Stockholm, Tokyo, Berlin and London.
In Canada, they have a foothold in Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec, and we have seen parties and caucuses formed in cities such as Surrey, Richmond, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Even Toronto has played around the edges of formal partisanship with the Responsible Government Group. I want to suggest that the greater the regional polarization among provincial or federal parties, the greater the likelihood of municipal partisanship.
Most Ontario politicians do not see the need for new municipal political parties, because it could weaken their own riding association or supporter base. Worse, it could result in a popular local politician rising to challenge the provincial leadership outside of the control of the traditional political parties. There is a quaint notion that little local issues do not rise to the standard of weighty provincial or federal issues, and therefore do not merit the discipline of political partisanship.
Those opposed to municipal parties also argue that City Hall is a place that, unlike an opposition party with its duty to oppose, has a duty to find consensus, and that the creation of consensus would be undermined by partisanship. On the other side of the argument, political parties are seen to give voters real choices; help replace “personality voting” with more substantive “issue voting;” permit a healthy electoral debate about vision rather than potholes; and increase voter turnout.
Locally, partisanship is like the reality that dares not speak its name. Some Peterborough City Councillors belong to political parties; all have political leanings. Some attend and speak at partisan electoral events and conventions; some rely on party election workers and fundraisers. But voting patterns at City Council are not expressly partisan. Instead, they are based on a combination of influences such as staff advice, personal values, assumed or expressed constituency preference, electoral implications, alliances with other Councillors or applicants, self perceptions as team players or mavericks, and the play between intellectual principle and emotional immediacy.
As I see it, municipal political parties are not on the local horizon and there is no desire to see political partisanship come out from under the covers.
Councillors understand that if you want decisions that best represent community opinion, you are more likely to find them based on a consideration of the merits of each individual issue, coupled with the creation of one-time alliances, than you are through predetermined partisanship. Not only that, but partisans sink or swim with the party, which can make for some very short careers.
-----------
David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. For more on his Backroom Briefing column, click here. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
This evening from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., come on out to the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce (175 George Street North) for All-You-Can-Eat Cupcakes hosted by Chacho's Bakery. It's only $7, and $2 from each person will be going towards Five Counties Children's Centre. Space is limited, but you can reserve your spot by contacting Jamie from Chacho's by email or by phone at 705.868.6542.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
Seniors Dreams was recently chosen as an EPIC Ventures winner through the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation. Founder Mark Twyman was honoured to gain this recognition with this award...
The letter is unedited. Here it is in its entirety...
Back in December the furnace stopped working in the apartment my 2 sisters rent. One sister has a part time job that she struggles to get hours at, and was recently laid off from the second job she had. The other sister is on assistance as she has a disorder that doesn't allow her to work.
They told the landlord about the furnace and he did not fix the problem. At Christmas time it was 13 degrees in that apartment in the morning on a good day. Due to the landlord not fixing the furnace, they had to spend the little money they had between them for the month on space heaters and bills and did not feel obligated to pay the rent, since the Landlord Tenant Act states the landlord must provide certain vital services and the provisioning for heat is one.
When the hydro bills for December and January came in, as you can imagine, they were large, too large for 2 young struggling girls. They were unable to pay the bills on time, didn't know they could call and make payment arrangements, and the hydro was cut off.
When my younger sister called her assistance worker, she was told they couldn't help her because the bills were in my working sisters name. They gave her a number to call the Housing Resource Centre. So, my working sister called them and had to leave a message. They returned her call later that afternoon and asked her some questions about her situation and her work situation. As soon as she told them how much money she had made in the last 4 weeks, which was around 260.00 they told her she did not make enough money for them to be able to assist her?!?! To out astonishment she was TOO POOR to receive help from the people we were told could help her with emergency funding.
My sisters are in the process of filing a T2 abatement of rent and moving out of that apartment. My working sister was forced to file for assistance, she is not happy about it either. The hydro has been re-connected now and they are leaving.
My concern is, how was she too poor to receive help in her situation? She works and contributes to this community as much as possible. She certainly still has to pay taxes that go towards these community programs right? Never has any run-ins with the law....how? Why?
Why was she literally forced to file for assistance? Left with no other options or people who would help those girls for a month to figure out the situation? It makes me very disappointed in this Community.
She is working hard to find more work and to get out of a bad situation, it would have been nice for the Housing Resource Centre to not turn their backs on her.
Thanks for listening, please help me make people aware of this horrible situation.
*Also, just so you know, Welfare only pays my sick sister 595.00 a month. If you think about that, that is supposed to cover rent/housing, heat/hydro, and food/hygene items for one person each month. Welfare will only allow 368.00 each month for payment towards rent, that leaves 227 a month to pay for heat (enbridge), hydro (PUC) and buy groceries. When the heat and hydro average payments are factored in, she received $2.90 a day to spend on food/hygene. Is it just me or does anyone see a problem here?? Welfare told her she needs to find a more affordable apartment....anyone have an apartment she can rent for less than $200 a month?
—Samantha Payne
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.
PTBOCANADA is a website about Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Copyright ©2010-2022, PTBOCANADA Media Inc. All rights reserved.
