A few years ago, it was common for car windshields to be spattered with bugs after a drive in the country. According to Jennifer Leat of the Pollinator Roadsides Project, that’s not happening so much anymore. There are fewer bugs, and fewer bugs equals fewer pollinators.
A community driven project to help pollinators will be happening on Saturday April 13 to restore habitat corridors for pollinators by planting pollinator-friendly native plants along roadsides.
Backed by a grant from the Region of Waterloo’s Community Environment Fund with support from volunteers and sponsors, the Pollinator Roadside Project seeks to increase biodiversity, support pollinator conservation, reduce maintenance costs, and control water runoff. The project also hopes to set a provincial and national precedent for prioritizing sustainability in roadside plantings.
Jennifer Leat, Lead of the Pollinator Roadsides project talks to CKMS about the project and the importance of pollinators.
Lyme disease, a combination of skin rashes, fevers, headaches, and fatigue, is contracted from black legged ticks, and if left untreated, can escalate to affect joints, the heart, and nervous system.
ETick.ca is an online platform where people voluntarily report tick sightings in the environment or when found on humans or animals. Comparing the first three months of 2023 to 2024 shows there has been a threefold increase in blacklegged tick reports for KW on eTick.ca.
The Region of Waterloo’s Public Health Manager for Vector-borne Diseases is Rebecca Piovesan, and she talked to CKMS News about lyme disease and back-legged ticks.
High patient volumes and staffing shortages within local hospital emergency rooms are impacting the ability of local paramedics in the Waterloo Region to respond to critical calls.
The preliminary Paramedic Services Annual Report was presented to the Community and Health Services Committee at Regional Council (item 8.2 on the regular agenda) this week reporting response statistics, off-load delay mitigation, and changes to the categorization of system alerts and patient acuity.
Although call volumes requesting paramedic help increased only by 1% in 2023, in 2022 call volumes increased by 11% over the previous year, and the paramedic service is still adjusting to these high call volumes.
While the local paramedic service exceeded all of their provincial and regional response time targets, the challenges posed by off-load delays, which happen when paramedics are held up in hospital emergency departments waiting for patients to be transferred to the care of a hospital, are a significant factor in response time.
Early Wednesday (Feb. 28), about 50 demonstrators in Kitchener blocked the entrance to local arms manufacturer Colt Canada on Wilson Avenue, demanding that the Canadian government impose an immediate and total arms embargo on Israel.
The demonstration is part of a broader protest across the country which is demanding a Canadian arms embargo on Israel and highlighting military exports from Canada to Israel. It was organized by Labour 4 Palestine, Labour Against the Arms Trade, and World BEYOND War, in response to the call by a coalition of more than 30 Palestinian unions and worker organizations to end all complicity and stop the flow of weapons to Israel.
About 60 people gathered in front of the Waterloo Region Police Services (WRPS) building in Kitchener on Friday to protest the fatal shooting by police of Nicholas Nembhard, a 31-year-old Black man.
Nembhard was killed in the evening of Feb. 19, the third such fatal shooting in the region since 2007. Police confirmed Feb. 20 that the Special Investigations Unit was investigating the shooting.
The next day, on Feb. 21, the African, Caribbean, and Black Network (ACBN) put out a statement condemning the WRPS’ killing of Nembhard, a “Black man in distress due to a mental health crisis.”
Organizers of the Friday demonstration explained why they felt the gathering was necessary and explained their demands of police, including changes to responses to mental health calls.
But some people felt organizers had not done enough to include the Black community and had used the killing of a Black man to push their own agenda.
As Canada continues supplying military equipment and components to the Israeli government amidst the attacks on Palestinians, the federal government is coming under increased scrutiny. On February 1st, the Nicaraguan government announced they were initiating action against Canada, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands at the International Court of Justice for supporting the Israeli aggression in Palestine.
This show features Rachel Small of World Beyond War discussing the groups activities, and the new online map which highlights locations and production details of weapons companies involved in arming the Israeli military, including 8 locations in Waterloo Region. CKMS News also discussed accountability and transparency in the Canadian weapons industry with Kitchener-Centre Green Party MP Mike Morrice.
CKMS News asked the ministry of International Development to confirm that the government has received letter from the Nicaraguan government regarding the initiating of actions against Canada at the ICJ for arming Israel. John Babcock, a spokesperson for the ministry told CKMS News that “Global Affairs Canada has seen the Nicaraguan press release.” He concluded “We are not in a position to comment further on this matter”.
Episode One of Readers Delight features authors: Carl Innes, Brian Van Norman & Carolyn Wilker.
Carl Innes read ‘The Meal’ from his book “The Eye of Calchas: An Anthology”. This book is available on Kindle. The Genre is: Supernatural Horror. Brian Van Norman read from his book “Against the Machine: Evolution”. This book is available on Kindle and on Amazon as paperback. The Genre is: Dystopian Science Fiction. Carolyn Wilker read ‘A Room is Waiting’ from her book “Good Grief People”. This book is available on Amazon in paperback and her website www.carolynwilker.ca. The Genre is: Memoir.
Invasive Group A Streptococcus (IGAS) – which can cause afflictions from a sore throat to flesh-eating disease – is on the rise in Waterloo.
Chief Medical officer of Health Dr Hsiu-Li Wong presented the respiratory disease update at the Region of Waterloo council meeting on Wednesday evening.
While the overall number of people infected is still low as of early January, the Public Health Agency of Ontario noted that 540 infections were reported in Ontario alone from October 2023 to the end of December. Within this data were 6 children under the age of 9 who succumbed to the disease.
Dr .Wong described symptoms of a severe IGAS infection, which include fever, sore throat, neck pain and rash that continue to worsen.
Epidemiologists do not yet understand why the disease has spiked and recommend taking precautions including proper hand hygiene and staying home when sick.
by: dan kellar A 235 acre donation of farmland and forest in Wilmot to therare Charitable Research Reserve is on hold over a parking lot. The Schneider family has been working on the donation since 2020 and has now reached out to regional residents to pressure township politicians to finalise the deal.
The land sits on Waterloo’s border and the family has allowed light recreational use of the forest for decades, with some trail users parking along nearby roads. Now, citing safety and liability concerns, the township is requesting a parking lot be built to accommodate future land use. However, project proponents say the request will damage sensitive areas while burdening the charity with added maintenance costs.
This show features an interview with Dr. Stephanie Sobek-Swant, the executive director of rare, along with a quote from the Schneider family’s statement, and the short comment a township representative made to CKMS News.
Tensions simmered when the topic of A Better Tent City (ABTC) came up at the last Waterloo Regional Council meeting of 2023. ABTC is tiny home community in Kitchener that currently houses 50 chronic homeless people.
On one side were those who supported the motion from Councillor and Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic which granted $236,390 for the next two years to ABTC. On the other side were those who said the grant was unfair and inequitable.
Several Councillors insisted the wording of Councillor Vrbanovic’s motion be removed as they felt it was insulting to staff. Another criticism arose because six other groups had been denied original funding but did not afterwards ask Council for money, some councillors felt this was unfair and inequitable
Despite the criticism, Council carried Councillor Vrbanovic’s motion granting ABTC $236,390 for the next two years
Waterloo – Over 8,000 renters have registered their units with ACORN’s Rental Registry since the grassroots social and economic justice organisation launched their map based online database at the end of the summer. ACORN Ontario told CKMS News in a statement that “the rental registry will track rising rents across the province.” which they say will “lead to better, publicly-available housing data that can help protect and create more affordable housing”.
Today’s shows features interviews with Acer Bonapart, the chair of ACORN Waterloo Region, which since its launch earlier this year, has focused primarily on tenant rights and housing issues. Additionally, CKMS speaks with Geordie Dent of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations (FMTA), a non-profit organization founded in 1974 which advocates for better rights for tenants. The show also includes comments that the ACORN Ontario chapter provided to CKMS News.
ACORN Ontario told CKMS News that the registry was created by the Montreal based non-profit Vivre en Ville, saying “The registry was first introduced in Quebec and has over 30,000+ rents voluntarily registered. The rental registry is easy, quick and secure as it was designed to be compliant with SOC2 cybersecurity standards.“, standards that meet requirements for governmental use.
According to rentals.ca, which has for years tracked such data, average rents across the country are still rising at over 100$/month, with a one bedroom apartment in Waterloo averaging 1,944$ a month in October. Two bedroom apartments are now averaging 2,543$ a month, nearly a 15% increase from last year at the same time.
While many provinces have some form of rent control, in Ontario since Doug Ford dismantled the existing system in 2018, that control comes in the form of a 2.5% maximum allowable increase to the rent after a 12 month period. However, the Landlord and Tenant Board, an arm of Ontario’s legal system, often allows this maximum to be exceeded after being convinced by a landlord’s request. As Geordie Dent explains, the board approves the above guideline increase “in the neighbourhood of 90-95% of the time”. Additionally, the maximum increase also does not apply between tenants, meaning the landlord can increase the rent any amount they want on new tenants once the old ones move out.
The Landlord and Tenant Board does not specifically track how often they approve AGIs and their 2022-2023 report has a lot of incomplete data. A brief review of cases by CKMS News centering on Above Guideline Increaseson the Canadian Legal Information Institute, where all such cases are listed, reveals the 10 most recent cases were all decided in favour of the landlord, with the majority declaring: “The Landlord justified a rent increase above the guideline because of capital expenditures.”
While above guideline increases continue to have harmful effects on renters, ACORN Ontario told CKMS News the registry will provide “Greater transparency for renters so they can make informed decisions about where they choose to live”. The statement concluded “Better housing data can help inform stronger affordable housing policies like those supported by Ontario ACORN’s ‘Real Rent Control’ Campaign. Over time, the registry will clearly show that rents increase astronomically in between tenancies on units that aren’t subject to rent control, and as a result of above guideline rent increases. These loopholes in our current rent control laws create incentives for landlords to renovict or demovict their tenants or neglect repairs until tenants get fed up and leave”.
Waterloo – With the recent release by the city of a new guide to navigate and report incidents of hate and discrimination in Waterloo, the Coalition of Muslim Women Kitchener Waterloo have yet another tool to offer from their growing kit to combat rising incidents of hate and discrimination. The group worked with city staff and other community partners such as the Community Justice Initiatives, as well as the regional police services to create the guide, which highlights the group’s online “Hate or Discrimination Documentation and Reporting Service” which is accessed at reportinghate.ca and receives hate incident and discrimination reports from across the country.
This show features an interview with Sarah Shafiq, the director of programming and services for the Coalition of Muslim Women KW, an organisation which is described on its website as “a small, but mighty group of racialized Muslim women that have been standing up to hate, discrimination, Islamophobia, and gender-based violence since 2010.”
The Interview focuses on the services that the group offers, the partnerships with the city of Waterloo and the regional municipality, and the surge in reports of anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic incidents reported in the past month. Shafiq also mentions the feelings of disappointment and fear members of her community are experiencing, bringing up memories of the post 9/11 era of profiling and discrimination.
This recent surge in hate incidents reflects the past several years of data available from both the Coalition of Muslim Women and Statistics Canada. According to statscan, in 2022 police-reported hate crime incidents in Waterloo Region doubled to 144 events, representing 22.7 incidents per 100,000 of population, more than double the national average of 9.3 incidents per 100,000 of population. These numbers add to the 38% increase in hate crimes reported nationally in 2021, compared to 2020 data.
The 2022 Snap Shot of Hate in Waterloo Region produced by the Coalition of Muslim Women shows a wide gap between the number of police reported hate incidents and the number of actual incidents which take place, with only 10 of 97 incidents that were reported to them ever being reported to the police. With the new guide, the online reporting tool, and the other services offered by the Coalition of Muslim Women, Sarah hopes people will be comfortable in reporting incidents of hate and discrimination and be able to access the other services and supports the organisation offers.
electoral reform, citizens assembly, voting, federal election, democracy proportional representation, first past the post, waterloo region, fair vote canada, green party, ndp, by: dan kellar
Kitchener – On November 7th, Motion 86 on forming a Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral reform had its first debate in the house of commons. The motion seeks to establish a representative “Citizen’s Assembly” which would investigate alternatives to Canada’s first past the post electoral system, and inform the government on which proportional systems would best reflect the needs and preferences of the people in Canada.
The motion was brought forward by NPD MP Lisa Marie Barron, and built on the work of Mike Morrice, the Green Party MP for Kitchener Centre who was the first to second the motion back in June. Morrice’s second was followed by 18 other seconders from the NDP, Liberal, and Conservative parties, including Bardish Chagger of the Waterloo riding. This cross party collaboration is exactly what Fair Vote Canada, one of the grassroots organisations who contributed to the motion, hopes will become standard operations in governments under an electoral system based on proportional representation.
This show features interviews with Kitchener Centre MP Mike Morrice, and Evan Rosamond, the co-chair of the Fair Vote Canada chapter for Waterloo Region.
Motion 86 was debated for its allotted hour, with many MPs announcing their support for the idea of electoral reform. Bloc Quebecois MP Martin Champoux applauded the motion, and called for MPs to have the courage to take action when it is time. Conservative MP Scott Reid stated the proposal was “half right”, but recommended a referendum over a citizen’s assembly.
However, support was not universal. Liberal MP Chandra Arya said that a citizen’s assembly would be “an attempt at an entry through the back door into a proportional system”. He then claimed that “Because of the proportional system, Israel cannot come to an agreement with Palestine.” Arya did not offer any evidence for either of his statements.
While the future of motion 86 and electoral reform in Canada is uncertain, the debate in the House of Commons will resume in the coming months, and with hope brewing around successful cross-party collaboration, Evan Rosamond remarked “it is better to talk a lot then to fight with everybody”.
Waterloo – As hate crimes and incidents of discriminatory hate have surged in Canada over the past several years, Waterloo Region has not been immune to the ugly trend, seeing the highest ever level of incidents in 2021 and then 2022. As part of a response to these increases, the City of Waterloo has developed a new guide to “support residents in navigating and reporting local incidents of hate and discrimination.” The new resource “offers clear instructions on where to file a report and outlines what to expect throughout the process.”
In this show, we speak with Julie Legg, the Supervisor of Neighbourhood Services for the City of Waterloo, and Paulina Rodriguez, the Anti-Racism and Social Justice Advocate, also for the City of Waterloo. The interview explores the development of the hate incident reporting guide, the importance of reporting hate incidents, and how this guide helps further the City of Waterloo’s inclusion and diversity initiatives, and create a city where as Julie Legg says “Hate isn’t welcome”.
In 2022, according to Statistic Canada, police-reported hate crime incidents in Waterloo Region doubled to 144 events This represents 22.7 incidents per 100,000 of population compared to 6.7 per 100,000 in 2017 or 2.5 per 100,000 in 2018. In Canada, hate crimes rose 38% in 2021 from 2020, reaching 3358 incidents, and in 2022 surged even higher, with 3,576 hate crime incidents being reported. That is on average 9.2 hate crime incidents per year per 100,000 of population.
As the Coalition of Muslim Women of Kitchener-Waterloo reported in their 2022 Snap Shot of Hate in Waterloo Region, only 10 of 97 incidents that were reported to them were ever reported to the police, suggesting that the police-reported numbers of hate incidents and hate crimes may be significantly lower than the actual number of these incidents that take place in the region.
The new guide from the city, includes details on alternatives to reporting hate motivated incidents to the police, such as the reportinghate.ca website run by the Coalition of Muslim women of Kitchener-Waterloo. According to Paulina Rodriguez from the City of Waterloo, these reporting alternatives are highlighted in an effort to support community members, and “meet people where they are at, where they feel most comfortable”.
During presentations on October 25th to Waterloo Regional Council, 2 delegates asked the council to respond to the Ontario government’s reversal of the forced expansion of the region’s urban boundaries by reaffirming their commitment to the 2022 Regional Official Plan and by informing the Government that no changes will be identified.
In today’s show, we hear excerpts from the delegations of Sam Nabi, the director of Hold the Line Waterloo Region, and Kevin Thomason of the Grand River Environmental Network to the regional council, along with responses from councilors Rob Deutschmann and Dorothy McCabe.
These delegations were in response to the October 23rd announcement from the Ontario minister of municipal affairs and housing, Paul Calandra, that affected municipalities had 45 days to respond to his government’s policy reversal.
Before we get into those presentations, here is a bit of background on the situation.
On October 23rd Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing Paul Calandra announced the reversal of his government’s plans which would have forced the extension of the urban boundaries of 12 Ontario municipalities. In the case of Waterloo Region, this reversal could be accompanied by a return to the 2022 Regional Official Plan which was the product of an extensive public consultation and negotiation.
This recent flip-flop by the PC government, follows the reversal of the Greenbelt development plans which received widespread condemnation, was the catalyst of province-wide protests, and is also the focus of an RCMP investigation.
In April 2023, Ford’s Progressive Conservative government upended the plans of many municipalities by overturning their urban boundary and development plans, forcing municipalities to start new processes to approve previously protected land, for new urban sprawl.
At the time of the original upending of the region’s official plan, local grassroots organisation Hold the Line WRwere adamant the Region needed to fight back against the conservative government’s plans. Now, Sam Nabi, the director of the group, and Kevin Thomason of GREN are asking the regional council to reaffirm their commitment to the 2022 Regional Official Plan and to tell Minister Calandra, within his 45 day limit, that there will be no changes identified.
“Show up and tune in” was the message from the Poverty Reduction Forum, when asked how people can engage with 2024 police budget consultations. The Forum, which was hosted by the Kitchener Public Library and presented by the Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, was held on October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The Forum consisted of two four person panels that included outreach workers; people with lived experience of poverty; academics; a former politician; and social workers.
Some of the conversation at the Forum revolved around the problems and challenges when dealing with the police. Consistently, across the panels, delegates encouraged all members of the public to get involved in the community consultation process, in particular to attend the upcoming public consultations on the police budget on October 26 and November 6.
Earlier this year, the Waterloo Regional Council approved a motion that demanded the WRPS board consult with council and the public before approving its annual budget, in an effort to encourage transparency and improve relations between the police and the public. Up until now, Regional Council could only approve or reject the police budget and had no control over individual budget items or the process.
As reported by CKMS news last week, Regional Councillor Rob Deutschmann presented a motion to council to express dissatisfaction and disappointment in the engagement process so far and that the WRPS budget seems to have been finalized with neither public nor council input. That motion ultimately failed, though the vote was close.
At the Poverty Forum, advocates Kamil Ahmed, a community organizer and mediator at Community Justice Initiatives, and Sara Escobar, co-founder of Peregrine Outreach, both stressed the importance of public participation. Kamil also discussed the importance of gaining a wider perspective and understanding of the police’s increased budget requests.
The WRPS is the 12th largest police service in Canada and the 7th in Ontario. In 2023 the police budget was $214 million. Despite a surplus, the WRPS has asked their 2024 budget to be increased by $16 million, in large part to fund additional 18 new officers in 2024 and 2025. The reason, according to police, is because officer staffing in the region has fallen short of other major municipalities, noting that as the population has grown in size, staffing has not increased.
To bolster their request, the police pointed to the rise in crime from 2012 to 2021 has risen 34 percent.
On Wednesday October 18th, regional councilor Rob Deutschmann presented a motion asking council to “express its dissatisfaction and disappointment” in the “Waterloo Region Police Services Board and the Waterloo Region Police Service Chief of Police”.
The motion in response to the police board ignoring a February 2023 resolution from the regional council which asked the police to present their draft budget ahead of the budget being approved by the police board. Deutschmann says the police have ignored 3 follow up requests for engagement ahead of this year’s budget season.
Further, Deutschmann’s new motion again calls for the police to present their draft budget to the regional council before it is approved at the police board in the coming weeks.
In a response to questions posed by CKMS News regarding the police presenting their draft budget as previously requested, Cherri Greeno the director of corporate affairs for the Waterloo police indicated the police were not planning to present their draft budget ahead of time saying:
“The 2024 WRPS Operating and Capital Budget will be presented to Waterloo Regional Council on November 22, 2023.” Greeno Added “Two public engagement sessions are being held on October 26, 2023 and November 6, 2023.” The police board will be meeting on November 15th to approve the police budget.
Greeno concluded “WRPS is confident that through this enhanced and purposeful engagement with Regional Council, that we will build on our existing relationship of collaboration and trust while continuing to ensure that all people in Waterloo Region are safe and feel safe.”
At the meeting councilor Deutschmann presented his argument to have council again ask police for respectful collaboration in finalising the budget, and without any questions from other councilors, a vote was soon called.
In the end the vote failed after a 6-6 tie as councilors Deutschmann, Liggett, Wolf, James, Williams, and Huinink voted for the resolution, while Councilors Shantz, Redman, Foxton, Erb, Harris, and Craig voted against it. Councilors Salonen, Vrbanovic, Nowak, and McCabe were not present for the vote. Of the 6 “no” votes, Councilors Redman, Shantz, and Craig are all on the police services board.
Today’s episode features an interview with Waterloo Regional councilor Rob Deutschmann, discussing the motivations behind his motion including how the police ignoring the council’s previous requests for early engagement are “disrespectful” and quite disruptive to the overall budget process as it typically represents around ⅓ of the overall budget.
A gathering was held on Sunday to celebrate the return of a community fridge and the community collaboration that made it happen.
The fridge, which is run by the 519 Community Collective and located behind the Café Pyrus outpost at the Spur Line and Roger Street, had been at the location for almost two years before it was stolen in August.
Although the theft shocked the community, the theft was not reported to the police and there are no suspects. The incident was well covered by major media outlets, and thanks to that exposure, many individuals and businesses have contributed to the installation of two new fridges.
Several members of the community and the 519 Community Collective spoke to CKMS News about the theft and subsequent response. Lisa Braun, one of the 519 Community Collective Board members, explained the community’s reaction to the original theft, and Tyzun James, owner of the Café Pyrus Outpost, which hosts the fridge, also noted the outpouring of support. Julie Sawatzky, the founder and also a board member of the 519 Community Collective, described the collective’s stoic and resilient response to the theft.
About 25 people attended the early afternoon ceremony on Sunday October 15, including Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic who said, “There are many challenges around the community right now for some folks in terms of food security and this is a very meaningful way to help those who need supports to get access to them.”
The 519 Community Collective is a non-profit Kitchener-based organization with eleven different programs that cater to those who are in need across the region. At this time of year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas weighing heavy on organization’s like the 519 Community Collective, Julie Sawatzky explained that they are focusing their efforts and how they are planning to deal with additional demand. “We just finished our Thanksgiving community event where we served over 800 hot turkey dinners to the community, and we’re super excited that we’re going to be doing something similar this Christmas.”
The fridge will return to normal operations within the week. Food donations can be made at the fridge directly, and other donations, including monetary donations, can be made by contacting the 519 Community Collective.
The music on today’s show is called “Maple Music” by Godmode courtesy of by Expectantly Maple Music on youtube.
Listen to the radio story below:
The music on today’s show is called “Maple Music” by Godmode courtesy of by Expectantly Maple Music on youtube.
On June 20th, 2020, O:se Kenhionhata:tie, also known as Land Back Camp, was originally launched by Amy Smoke, Bangishimo, and Terre Chartrand in what was known as Victoria Park in Kitchener. The camp quickly became a hub of activity and it was quickly observed that “most of the young people at the camp were also Two Spirit, queer, trans, and/or non-binary. Land Back Camp had become an Indigenous queer and trans space for young people to reconnect and learn about their Indigeneity”.
Fast forward through an intentionally short-lived land reclamation in Waterloo Park in the fall of 2020, a collaboration with the Grand River Conservation authority in 2021 to have the camp set up in the Laurel Creek Conservation area, the work with the tent encampments through 2022 and 2023, ongoing work with the local governments around supporting Indigenous spaces, and now with the opening of a new centre for “Indigenous, Black, and other racialised two-spirit and Indigiqueer youth”, Land Back Camp organisers have been busy.
This show features an interview with Amy Smoke, who along with her friend Bangishimo, is set to coordinate the activities at the new Willow River Centre in downtown Kitchener once it opens on October 7th.
Amy spoke of the goals and of the importance of the centre, the youth she hopes the centre will serve, and a bit of the process in getting to this point.
Smoke also discusses recent targeting of the centre, by an individual who used to participate in Land Back Camp, and the impact the action has had on Indigenous, Black, and other racialised communities, and two-spirited and queer communities. The police became involved in the situation after the vandalism was reported, and after arranging to turn himself in, the perpetrator of the chalking was charged with:
Mischief to Religious Property under $5,000
Criminal Harassment
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime under $5,000.
The man was released on his own recognizance and will be in court October 26th at 9am
CKMS News has been in contact with the man, a self described “former ally” who had a falling out with others at Land Back Camp, including Amy Smoke and Bangishimo. The man defended his actions as acts to bring accountability to what he says were misappropriated funds stemming from several fundraising campaigns that Land Back Camp has received. One message he chalked read “Ose:Kenhionhata:tie didn’t take Land Back! They took money from white guilt”. In his communications on social media, and with CKMS News the man also described interpersonal conflicts and behaviors he did not condone or felt were inconsistent as additional motivations for his acts. However, with many of the details being unclear or speculative in nature and with the personal attacks on Land Back Camp participants, CKMS News did not find it appropriate or in the public interest to publish the full communication.
Smoke, clearly frustrated and angry about the situation, said of the man “They need an intervention, they need some help. They’re no okay”
The interview moves back to positive things around the centre with Smoke inviting folks to the opening ceremonies at the Willow River Centre on October 7th from 9am-2pm “but probably later”. The address is 243 King St E, near the Kitchener Farmers Market.
Smoke concludes by encouraging folks to check out the many events happening around the National for Truth and Reconciliation.
Kitchener, ON – As the Greenbelt situation continues to evolve, CKMS news again spoke with Kevin Thomason of the Grand River Environmental Network, and a local campaigner on a handful of campaigns to protect the Grand River watershed and the Waterloo moraine. For quite a while now Kevin has been organizing against Ontario’s conservative government’s plans to develop the ecologically important lands of the protected Greenbelt.
First, however, some recent background. As our last interview with Kevin was set to air on September 21st, Doug Ford announced he would be reversing the Greenbelt land deals saying “I am very, very sorry… it was a mistake to open the Greenbelt.” He added his actions were “with the best of intentions”, and that he “prides himself on keeping his promises”. With the 2018 promises to never develop the Green Belt, in mind, Ford once again promised to “won’t make any changes to the green belt in the future”.
After Ford admitted his governments’ mistakes, the conservative premiere suggested that developers may need to be compensated. However, on September 27th, and right after this interview with Kevin Thomason was completed, new minister of municipal affairs and housing minister Paul Calandra announced that developers will not be compensated for the reversal of the Ford governments Greenbelt decision. Thomason had said that developers do not have a special “right to develop”, and that land speculation and profit making are not protected acts. For now, it would seem, the Ford government agrees with Thomason.
Immediately after Calandra was named minister on September 4th, he announced that the greenbelt development plans were going ahead, and that any reviews may lead to more greenbelt land being taken for housing developments. On September 25th, the NDP tabled the “Green Belt Protection Act” which the conservatives voted down at first reading. Calandra said the conservatives will table better legislation that will “codify” Greenbelt boundaries. All these major turnabouts in policy and the handful of resignations in the past months in the conservative government only reinforce what NPD leader Marit Stiles told Allison Jones of the Canadian Press “I don’t trust this government at all to fix a mess of their own making”.
In this interview Kevin Thomason maintains his position that despite the conservative’s recent reversal on the development of the greenbelt, the Ford government is “corrupt”. Arguing that the Greenbelt was not the only area where Ford is attempting to take develop ecologically important lands under the guise of the housing crisis, and “given it to developers”, noting that “the RCMP do not investigate favouritism, they investigate crime”.
Kevin also spoke of the ongoing resistance to Doug Ford’s plans, including highway 413 construction, highway 7 expansion, forcing housing sprawl over other ecologically important lands with ministerial zoning orders, and other patterns of behaviour from the Ford government which “are not serving the best interest of Ontarians”.
These problematic patterns are an issue Phil Pothen, the Ontario Environment Program Manager of the environmental advocacy organisation Environmental Defense, has also discussed. As Phil said in a September 21st press release:
“While we welcome Premier Ford’s full reversal of the inappropriate removals of Greenbelt lands, the Ontario government’s $8.3 billion gift to developers represented just the most visible part of a dishonest and counterproductive push for sprawl that will only worsen Ontario’s housing shortage. To clean up what remains of the Ontario government’s land use and environmental mess, including Highway 413, it is essential to strengthen Greenbelt protections to ensure future government’s can’t try this again.”
Pothen continued: “We hope this change marks the beginning of a broader shift away from the government’s current misguided policies, including: forced boundary expansions in Hamilton and Halton, Waterloo and elsewhere; its lowering of Growth Plan density requirements; its gutting of Conservation Authorities; and its dismantling of regional land use planning. These damaging decisions, along with attempts to repeal laws which promote efficient land use and construction, must also be reversed.”
In a statement to CKMS News on September 13th, days before Ford’s Greenbelt reversal announcement, Kitchener-Conestoga PC MPP Mike Harris Jr. said that he supported Ford’s direction, writing that the conservative government will continue with their plan to build homes on “non-sensitive” Green Belt lands claiming this was “requested by many municipalities”. Harris concluded: “I want to emphasize that, under the continued leadership of our Premier, our Government will prioritize addressing the housing crisis.”
Following Ford’s greenbelt reversal announcement on the 21st, MPP Harris, responded to CKMS News with a statement regarding the quick policy changes from his government, saying: “After extensive consultations with cabinet, caucus and upon reviewing the public’s response, the Premier decided that the Greenbelt would be preserved.”
Harris added that the government will maintain the protection on the lands they had added to the Greenbelt to compensate for the lands they removed and that “As the process of reversing the decision is complex, more information will be released as it becomes available.”
CKMS News has asked MPP Harris about the corruption allegations and the criminal investigation but did not receive a response by the time of publication. CKMS will continue to provide updates to this ongoing story.
The Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region is hosting the 40th anniversary of the Take Back the Night event and march this Thursday September 21.
The event and march hopes to raise awareness of the threat of sexual violence and comes in the wake of the city of Kitchener and the Region of Waterloo declaring epidemics of intimate partner violence.
A few weeks ago, CKMS aired a show on Intimate Partner Violence and explained how this Region stands out in cross-Canada data as the least safe place for women to live in all of Canada.
So, we know sexual assaults are seriously underreported, often committed by someone the victim knows, and that these assaults continue to increase. Contradicting these statistics were the conversations CKMS news had with locals on the street, who said they felt safe at night. Statistics on perception of safety are also available.
Over three quarters of Regional residents thought crime levels in their neighbourhood were lower than the rest of Canada, however the Crime Severity Index tell a different tale. The Crime Severity Index is defined by Stats Can as changes in the severity of police-reported crime by accounting for both the amount of crime and the relative seriousness of these crimes. So while three-quarters of Regional residents thought their communities had lower crime levels than the rest of the country,the Crime Severity Index for Waterloo Region in 2022 was higher than the national average and third highest in the province behind Thunder Bay and Sudbury.
There may be a discrepancy between our perceptions and reality, however as the respondents to our street survey noted increased lighting on the streets and trails, safer transit, and staying closer to built up areas all contribute to the perception of safety. Whether or not we are safer at night than we were 40 years ago, it seems the night remains beyond our reach.
Take back the Night happens at the Gaukel Block from 6-9 on Thursday September 21.
Listen to today’s show above with Karley Doucette of the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region and hits the streets to ask people if they feel safe walking in their community at night.
In March 2019, Waterloo Region was ranked the least safe and least healthy place for women among the largest metropolitan areas in Canada.
In 2022, one-quarter of all criminal charges laid in Waterloo Region were related to intimate partner violence.
In ten years of data, the Waterloo Region Police Service fielded an average of 18 calls related to intimate partner violence a day and laid an average of 10 charges per day within the same timeframe.
In response to this kind of data, on August 29, the city of Kitchener, Ontario passed the motion to declare gender-based violence an epidemic.
CKMS News discussed how and why this declaration is a positive development with Jenna Mayne, the Communications and Fund Development Manager, of the Women’s Crisis Centre of Waterloo Region. She also talked about the types and impacts of intimate partner violence, and what support resources do we need more of to curb this disturbing trend.
In Waterloo Region, there are 990 shelter beds for women, trans individuals and gender-diverse people. Forty-five beds are in Kitchener and another 45 are in Cambridge. The transitional home, Aspen Place, offers at least 10 beds. The shelters are full and lengths of stay are long, up to year in some cases because there is nowhere to go. The affordable housing crisis has reverberations across the social landscape, but nearly none so devastating as for women seeking to leave abusive relationships. And of course, it’s not only women who are being impacted. In 2022, of the 383 people in shelters, almost half of them were children.
The abuse takes many forms, — physical, emotional and controlling finances and socialization. Since November 26, 2022, 38 women have been murdered by their partners in Ontario. While demand for help is high, it is no doubt a small portion of the whole. While 383 people used the shelters, more than 2,400 calls came into the agency’s support line and online chat last year, and over 1,100 people were supported through their outreach services.
This declaration pertains to the city of Kitchener only. Regional Council is expected to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic at council meeting on September 12, 2023. Women’s Crisis Services will be presenting to council alongside their partners in the Family Violence Project asking the council to declare the epidemic and to integrate partner violence in the Region’s Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence, call:
Anselma House in Kitchener – 519-742-5894
or Haven House in Cambridge – 519-653-2289
or online at www.wcswr.org
Anonymity is assured regardless which method is used.
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The music on today’s show is called “Maple Music” by Godmode courtesy of by Expectantly Maple Music on YouTube.
Across the province residents have organized against the changes to Greenbelt protections, and in Waterloo Region many groups and individuals have been working to “Stop the Sprawl”. Ahead of the July 29th “Rally Against the Big Sprawl” in Waterloo, CKMS News spoke with Kevin Thomason of the Grand River Environmental Network and a number of other social and environmental justice oriented organizations.
Thomason spoke about efforts to mobilize against of the Ontario government’s actions and legislation which they he argues will dismantle the rules protecting the Greenbelt from destruction by development (such as with Bill 23) and undermine local democracy (such as with Bill 39). He also spoke of continuing to engage in public participation processes, the work of GREN, and some of the solutions that could be implemented to address the housing crisis without causing further damage to the ecological services associated with Greenbelt lands.
Photo: dan kellar
Photo: dan kellar
Photo: dan kellar
As the Ontario government works to overrule local decision making and accelerate the dismantling of the ecologically significant lands of the Greenbelt to facilitate suburban sprawl, groups across Ontario have organised to resist these actions. Photo: dan kellar
This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, Heritage Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.
The theme of this year’s CAFKA (Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area) festival is ‘Stay with Me’. Tara Cooper, CAFKA’s Chair of Programming and Board Director, explained,
“In a way, it came out of our last biennale, which was during the pandemic two years ago. And the idea was literally just to stay with me, the idea of being together but also the idea of giving room for the things that are uncomfortable or hard to talk about.”
Tara also talks about the history, some of this year’s unique artworks within the exhibition, and what it takes to produce the exhibition.
CKMS news also talked to the Director of Cultural Services at the Region of Waterloo Helen Chimirri-Russell about how the Region approaches funding arts organizations, such as CAFKA.
CAFKA runs until Saturday July 22, 2023, and you can find information on exhibits and shows at CAFKA.org.
On Friday, July 21, 6:00–7:30 pm, join CAFKA for a walking tour of Stay with Me installations in the Kitchener exhibition zone. Admission is free. Meet in front of Kitchener City Hall (200 King Street West, Kitchener) at 6pm.
The music on today’s show is called “Maple Music” by Godmode courtesy of by Expectantly Maple Music on YouTube. This music is copyright free and used with gratitude.
This piece features an interview with Explore Waterloo Region CEO Minto Schneider. In the interview, we touch on how hard the tourism sector has been affected throughout the past 17 months and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several hospitality and tourism places, like museums and theme parks haven’t been fully open for two summers now. Schneider discusses the importance of Step 3 in Ontario, which begins on July 16, as well as touches on just how important health and safety protocols continue to be.
Schneider doesn’t have an estimate on financial losses over the last year due to COVID, but imagines it is very high.
Many businesses were initially upset about Waterloo Region being held in step two of Ontario’s reopening, but further understood the reasoning. The region was held back in the province’s reopening because of a number of Delta variant virus cases in the area.
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This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant program and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.
Check out the archived versions of this program and other episodes onradiowaterloo.ca/news., and other stories commissioned under the Local Journalism Initiative atcanada-info.ca.
You can follow us on twitter@RadioWaterloo. If you want to get in touch with comments, or ideas about stories to cover, email us at news@radiowaterloo.ca
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