Peterborough Blogs
34-Year-Old Woman Facing Impaired Charges On Wednesdays Afternoon
/A 34-year-old Peterborough woman is facing impaired charges after an incident on Wednesday afternoon.
At roughly 4:50 p.m., officers were called to a parking lot in the Chemong Road and Towerhill Road area by an off-duty OPP officer about a possible impaired driver. Officers had concerns about the driver’s ability to drive safely and prevented her from leaving the area. They also noticed signs of impairment with the driver.
The woman was arrested and charged with:
Operation while impaired - blood alcohol concentration (80 plus)
The accused was issued an automatic 90-day license suspension and a seven-day vehicle impound.
The accused was released on an undertaking and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 10.
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AON Inc Planning 550 Premier Seniors Development Units On Clonsilla Avenue
/Planning multi-phase apartment buildings, retirement homes and premier seniors development by AON Inc. has begun as part of their AIRWAYS development project at the Kawartha Golf Club, announced on Wednesday.
Brad Smith (left) and Rob Elliot (right) at the site of where the units will be built on Clonsilla Avenue over 22-acres. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The 22-acre community will be spread out over up to eight buildings and include many outdoor community amenities according to a press release. Located at the end of Clonsilla Road near Lansdowne Street, the property is off a hilltop which has great views according to Brad Smith, AON President.
“The views from this area are phenomenal,” he explained. “You either have views of the golf course or overlooking the City of Peterborough with all the trees in the area and the views in the fall are spectacular. When I was putting this together, it really fit with our portfolio and the growth of the seniors community.”
Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Kawartha Golf Club remains intact during the whole construction process set to begin next year. The proposed units to be built could aid in generating extra income for the club as they look forward to working with AON Inc. according to Rob Elliot, Kawartha Golf Club president.
“The Kawartha Golf Club looks forward to AON Inc. creating this wonderful community and the opportunities that may arise for the Club to integrate with it,” he said.
“There will be nothing in size and variety to compare to this project in Peterborough and the region’s growing seniors’ population will welcome these much-needed residential options including the safety features this community will offer them,” said Smith. “Never have so many senior geared lifestyle options been incorporated into one community. The FAIRWAYS will be a premier community for seniors and AON is excited to commence on the necessary next steps with the City of Peterborough to make this community a reality.”
This is a proposed development of 550 units and must go through the approval processes with the City of Peterborough. At this time, the plan remains a proposal until formally finalized.
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City Launches New Peterborough Transit Tool to Track Bus Locations
/Peterborough Transit has soft-launched a new online tool to allow riders to track the location of their bus and plan their trips in real-time.
Photo courtesy of The City of Peterborough.
The tool provides bus locations, predicted arrival and departure information as well and service changes for all fixed route transit operations.
“This is a key advancement to transit service in Peterborough,” said Councillor Keith Riel. “Knowing where your bus is before you leave home is a game changer for transit customers.”
The new tool is available on the Peterborough Transit Routes and Schedules page and is tool is mobile-friendly, with full functionality on smartphones and tablets. Transit customers who don’t have access to the internet can call 705-745-0525 to find out the real-time location of their bus.
“The Trip Planner will allow customers to ride with confidence, providing reliable, step-by-step navigation from one destination to another, anywhere within the route system in real-time or for planning trips in advance,” said Riel.
Route Information
Users can search the site based on the route of a transit stop. The map shows the real-time location of the bus(es) and their travel direction. Users can set favourite routes within the tool for enhanced convenience.
Trip Planner
The Trip Planner enables transit customers to select a starting location and a destination and set a time and date to see the suggested route and predicted travel time.
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The Tenors Are Bringing Holiday Cheer to the Peterborough Memorial Centre For Dec. 17
/The Tenors are bringing their ‘Christmas with The Tenors’ tour to the Peterborough Memorial Centre for a live performance scheduled for Dec. 17 at 8 p.m.
Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. at the PMC Box Office, online or by calling 705-743-3561. Ticket prices range from $65.50 to $100.50 (plus applicable fees).
PMC SCOOP members can get pre-sale tickets on Thursday at 10 a.m. only online.
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Get a Tastes of the World of Lakefield Farmers' Market's 'Around the World' This Thursday
/The Lakefield Farmers’ Market is celebrating international cuisine and multicultural vendors at the ‘Around the World’ themed market behind the Lakefield-Smith Community Centre on Thursday.
Photo courtesy of Lakefield’s Farmers’ Market.
There will be local vendors offering cuisine from around the world including Indo-Canadian cuisine from Jess’s Kitchen, savoury and sweet Mexican food from La Mesita and New Zealand-style meat pies from Kia Ora Pie Co.
The vendors are also stocked with their fall harvests and unique handcrafted items. Farrucas Duo will be performing live Latin music.
The Lakefield Farmers’ Market runs weekly until Oct. 5. Visit the market every Thursday, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., rain or shine, behind the Lakefield-Smith Community Centre.
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Voice of Business: How We Spend Money Matters
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Spending nearly $30 billion annually, Ontario’s public sector is the largest buyer in our provincial economy.
When you spend that kind of money, how it’s spent has big implications. Getting the most value out of each dollar spent is not just about who can provide each product and service for the least amount of money.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce recently published a policy brief titled Power of the Purchase Order: Modernizing Public Sector Procurement in Ontario. This brief puts forward the case for smarter spending that will have larger benefits for the people and businesses paying the provincial government’s bills.
Ontario’s public sector is made up of its ministries and agencies and includes institutions like hospitals and school boards. They spend money on everything from pencils to medical technology. This kind of buying power comes with a unique ability to invest in innovation, growing new markets, improving living standards, and economic development. However, it often fails to deliver on these goals.
As stated in the policy brief:
The process tends to lack collaboration, discourage investment, misallocate risk, and prioritize short-term costs over long-term value. Procurement modernization presents a major opportunity to transform health care and other public services, build more resilient supply chains, and create greater social and economic value for Ontarians.
The policy brief makes the case for changes like value-based procurement (VBP), shifting the focus from price to outcomes. Outcomes can include quality, lifecycle costs, sustainability, living standards, and economic development. It emphasizes long-term value over short-term costs.
Power of the Purchase Order lays out the case for both simple and complex purchases. A more expensive laptop can be more cost-effective if it requires less servicing from technicians and lasts longer. The implications are much bigger in complex purchases like pharmaceuticals. Bulk sourcing from a single provider lowers costs. To get these lucrative contracts, manufacturers compete to offer the lowest possible pricing, forcing them to reduce supply to just enough to win the bids. Unfortunately, this has led to shortages of critical medication.
The Province announced the creation of Supply Ontario back in 2020. This Crown agency has a mandate to modernize public procurement for the Province.
The policy brief contains 23 recommendations to create better outcomes for public sector spending and does so with a focus on innovation, attracting investment, and health care procurement:
Rethinking Procurement
Procurement in the public sector covers a wide range of goods and services – from office supplies to infrastructure, engineering services, and health care technologies.
For basic commodities, the process is simple. The buyer can easily describe what it is looking for through a request for proposal (RFP) and select a vendor that will best meet its needs. In these cases, it makes sense to prioritize cost-efficiencies and look for economies of scale.
In contrast, procurement of complex goods and services requires a more sophisticated process, one that is more oriented towards long-term value and collaborative problem-solving.
Attracting Investment
Ontario’s current approach to procurement can inadvertently discourage businesses from even attempting to bid, which leads to less competition and less favourable outcomes. There are several practical steps that can be taken to attract investment in Ontario’s supply chains, and encourage more participation from small, local, diverse, and green businesses. Increased competition for bids leads to a more diversified supply chain and better value.
Innovating Health Care
Health care procurement is not only significant from a budgetary perspective, but also for its impacts on patient and population outcomes. Medical devices, drugs, support services, and innovative solutions are complex purchases that provide long-term value to the health care system, its practitioners, and its users. Driving greater value within Ontario’s health care system requires spending wisely, which may not necessarily require spending more.
It is encouraging to see all levels of government take a renewed look at their procurement process. The City of Peterborough is undergoing a hard look at social procurement with the goal of leveraging existing procurement activities to achieve positive social value objectives that align with the City's strategic goals and plan. Governments are big spenders and it’s critical that we take a good look at how the money is spent to get the best value long term.
Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.
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Canadian Canoe Museum Set to Open In of Winter Next Year
/The Canadian Canoe Museum (CCM) is planning to open in the winter of next year, followed by a grand opening celebration in May announced on Wednesday morning.
Carolyn Hyslop, Canoe Museum Executive Director at the Exhibition Hall. Photo courtesy of he Canadian Canoe Museum.
The new museum's unveiling — which was to take place this fall — has been delayed due to nationwide construction industry issues according to a press release.
Once the facility opens, the museum will officially celebrate after the ice melts by launching canoes into the water.
“I am thrilled to announce that we will welcome our supporters to the new museum and campus the weekend of May 11th for our grand opening celebrations,” said Carolyn Hyslop, CCM executive director. “While the pandemic and its impacts on the construction industry have affected our timeline, it has not affected the spirit and enthusiasm for this project. It will be worth the wait when visitors can explore this beautiful facility and our many new offerings and then continue to the lakefront for a memorable paddling experience.”
The weekend of May 11th will have donors, partners, members, volunteers and dignitaries gather to celebrate the grand opening of the new museum and Lang Lakefront Campus which coincides with the start of the paddling season. The day also marks the launch of the CCM’s full visitor experience with on-water activities to honour Canada’s enduring paddling legacy as stated by CCM. A schedule of events will be released closer to the date.
The new museum will have 20,000 square feet of new exhibits featuring stories from around the world at their own pace or on a guided tour, Collection Hall, artisan workshops and food and drink from the Silver Bean Café.
A multipurpose room is available to rent for community and corporate meetings, conferences, events and weddings.
During the spring, the Lang Lakefront Campus will have space for on-water programming. There will be daily 90-minute Voyageur canoe tours that will offer a group paddling experience, while canoe and kayak rentals will be available for self-guided adventures. Children’s day camps, adult paddling courses and backcountry canoe trips will also run throughout the summer months.
There are 100 canoes and kayaks being moved into the new Exhibition Hall.
“Moving this first portion of the collection into its new home was an incredible moment in this organization’s history,” said Jeremy Ward, CCM Curator. “This collection is unlike any other worldwide and has been recognized for its national significance to this country. Now, it finally has a home befitting it. It was certainly an emotional moment for myself and our team.”
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, granted patronage to the CCM last year. In 2013, the Senate declared the CCM and its collection a cultural asset of national significance.
The remaining 500 watercraft are being moved to the new museum over the next two to three months.
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Rotary Fore the Kids Golf Tournament Tees Up Vital Support for Five Counties Children's Centre
/There were 87 golfers teeing off for the Rotary Club of Peterborough ‘Rotary Fore the Kids Golf Tournament’ to support Five Counties Children's Centre (FCCC) at Bellmere Winds Golf Resort in Keene last Thursday.
(Left to right) Linsey Kampf, Five Counties; Laurie Heigh, Rotary Club of Peterborough; Craig McFarlane, Linwood Homes and Lyn Giles, Five Counties. Photo courtesy of FCCC.
