Ontario Morning

Author Nicola Ross takes us to the Bruce Trail, in which she walks from Niagara to Tobermory in her own creative way in her newly released book: 40 Days & 40 Hikes She talked to us about how she covered 900 kilometers and why she decided to write a book about it.

Last January Port Hope's council decided to look for a twin city among Ukrainian municipalities. It found Nadvirna, a town on the western side of the country, not far from the Carpathian Mountains. We spoke to the Mayor of Port Hope, Olena Hankivsky, about this budding relationship. The Theatre of Orangeville is playing an original play called The Darktown Strutters' Ball. The play takes the audience on a musical journey, honoring artists from Nat King Cole to Bob Marley. Playwright Leslie McCurdy was overjoyed to chat with us about the show.

After 30 years of volunteering, Joanne Langlois has become the new United Way campaign chair for Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. We spoke to her about her plans for the role, and where she sees the greatest needs right now. Huron County is hoping to keep its residents close to home. It launched a campaign to retain its working age residents, starting with two billboards. We spoke to Clara Leney, a workforce coordinator for Huron County, about how the campaign is going. Innisfil resident Ninko Pangilinan was recently seen on season two of Canada's Ultimate Challenge. The reality TV competition features twenty players, divided into five teams, facing incredible physical challenges in obstacle races all across the country. We spoke to Ninko about his experience.

The Youth Haven Centre in Barrie is set to be demolished next month to make way for a bigger facility. The new space will have increased capacity and access to services like healthcare. We spoke with Lucy Gowers, the executive director at Youth Haven, about the renovations. Each year, hundreds of people die in workplace accidents in Canada. Tragically, many were preventable. This weekend, Johanna LeRoux, mother of Michael LeRoux, will be sharing her son’s story at an event to mark the annual National Day of Mourning on Sunday. For almost 20 years the international event has been inviting all lovers of rivers, lakes and oceans to connect with the paddling world through film.Now the festival makes a Stop in Orillia this weekend. We spoke to Dave Mitchell, Director for Associate Members, about the event.

Local news highlights from April 25, 2024 edition of ONTARIO MORNING: KINCARDINE PIER SAFETY ​After two decades of fatal and near-fatal drowning incidents, Kincardine is looking at pier safety upgrades. City councillor and chair of the Ad-hoc Pier Safety Committee Rory Cavanagh described what is coming to improve water safety in the area. TINY TOWNSHIP, BIGGER BUILDING Tiny Township is growing -- and so are the needs of its council. But a $27 million dollar new municipal office building is too much for some residents, who have been protesting the project. Mayor David Evans explains why bigger spaces are becoming necessary for small communities like his. BIRD BARN SWANS The Harrison Park bird barn in Owen Sound has long been a haven for feathered friends, but now a biologist is recommending to council that some of the majestic royal swans may be allowed to die off. We hear why, from Environment and Climate Change Canada's Christopher Sharp, a population management biologist .

Prince Edward County has recruited six new physicians and introduced a pilot project that included significant funding for the overwhelming paperwork doctors have to deal with. Now current doctors are taking on new clients and the county has renewed the project. We spoke with Adam Hambly, the head of Physician Recruitment with Prince Edward County Family Health Team, about it. Trent University and Fleming College are now partnering with SpacesShared to tackle affordable housing for students. SpacesShared matches students with older hosts for a home sharing arrangement. We spoke to Jen Coulter, the director of student housing and residence life at Trent University, about how it works. Richard Peddie's life is a journey filled with curiosity. Now this curiosity has taken him to small towns across Ontario like Picton and Huntsville to find out how they are preserving their history and what makes them so resilient. We spoke to him about his chronicles. The Keep Refillery in Kingston is tackling plastics in a big way. They've diverted hundreds of thousands of bottles from landfills in just 4 short years. We spoke with the owner, Jacquie Rushlow, about her war against plastics. Bradford West Gwillimbury Library is celebrating Sikh Heritage Month with the works of Canadian artist Kanwar Singh. Singh's Art of Punjab exhibit allows people to view his art with a lens towards sikh culture and history. It's meant to recognize the important contributions that Sikh Canadians have made to the province's cultural fabric. We spoke to Kanwar Singh themselves for details.

The City of Kawartha Lakes has confirmed cases of pertussis, which is also known as the whooping cough. The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit is now warning parents about the illness that touches the most vulnerable among us. We spoke with Marianne Rock, the manager of communicable disease prevention and control, about the rising danger. The Mayor of Haldimand County is rejecting the accusations from the Minister of Municipal Affairs about their failure to reach housing targets. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Callandra sent a letter to the County accusing them of failing to meet the target and The county has demanded a recount. We spoke to Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley, about the accusations. A small group in Merrickville-Wolford Township celebrated a huge victory against the town council vote to ban the pride flag. It came after a motion to prohibit the flag from being flown at Town Hall which was meant to declare June as Pride Month. We spoke to Carlson Card, an advocate who spoke up at the council meeting against the ban, about the celebration. Many local business owners expressed their fears and frustrations about a budding homeless tent encampment showing up in the heart of downtown Peterborough core. Now the Trinity Center decided to respond to those fears. Christian Harvey, the executive director, gave us his perspective.

Recently, Peterborough finished building a complex of tiny homes for 50 homeless people after shutting down an contentious tent encampment on Wolfe Street. But now there are renewed fears and frustrations of another tent city popping up at Trinity Centre, a social agency site run by One City Peterborough. We spoke to Joel Wieba, Vice President of the Peterborough and Kawartha Chamber of Commerce, about these echoed frustrations. A mini forest project is developing in Smiths Falls as 300 trees will be planted in Corbett Park across from its new play structure. The project is driven by the Rideau Environmental Action League with the help of the town and local volunteers. We spoke with Lead Project Organizer, David Thornley, about the project.

The Kingston Symphony is holding their annual vinyl sale all this weekend. Longtime volunteer Dan Murphy went 'on the record' to highlight some of the musical gems in the massive record collection. Feeling the pain when you pay for your grocery bills ? You're not alone. A Reddit post that encourages customers to boycott Loblaws has over 52 thousand signatures.....including that of Lisa Peterson, an Innisfil pig farmer. She talks about what the boycott it could mean to her and other farmers. Swifties will soon have their 'wildest dreams' come true at Queen's University thanks to a new course being offered in the fall. We spoke to Swiftie professor Mohamed Khimji, who told us all about Law (Taylor's Version).

Yesterday morning, we told you about the Cornwall council's decision NOT to look at a local developer's proposal to build what they believe to be a big , affordable housing complex in the city. We hear from the developer, JC Godard, on the rejection and what's next. A 19th century fur trader and former British Indian Department employee will be removed from the Orillia Hall of Fame after it was discovered that he had controversial views towards indigenous people, AND wasn't actually from Orillia. Chuck Penny is the chair of the hall of fame's commemorative award committee. He broke down this decision and what this means for other figures of the hall of fame. If you're in the Barrie area and have been struggling to find a family doctor, some relief is on the way: a new pharmacist walk-in clinic is opening in the city. We check in with pharmacist on call, Qaiser Hassan.

While everyone's rushing to put shovels on the ground for affordable housing, the Town of Cornwall is turning down a housing project from a local developer to build an affordable apartment complex with 400 units. We spoke with Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale to explain the decision. The town of Collingwood is now being urged to drop animal control service from the Bylaw. Instead, they plan to lean on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to take over. We spoke with Collingwood Mayor Yvonne Hamlin about the change in structure. mes Fairy Day Games is a children's imaginative story that allows readers to enter the wonderful and magical world of fairies. This comes after the success of her first book: A Fairy On My Sleeve. Grey Highlands author Mari Sherkin gave us the scoop. The future needs of policing in Northumberland County will be discussed later today at county council. With expected population growth, increasing social challenges, and public scrutiny towards public safety services, County Council members will hear a presentation from a consulting firm about potential scenarios for policing in the area for the next 15 years. Brian Ostrander, the Warden for Northumberland County and the Mayor of Brighton, spoke to us before the meeting.

Orillia has recently installed drilling accommodations from northern Alberta as a new housing area for the homeless population in their city. This comes just after the new Tiny homes development project out in peterborough has come with a lot of success. They too think this will be a helpful way to appease the growing unhoused population in the city. General Manager of Social and Community Services for Simcoe County, Mina Fayez-Bahgat, told us more on this development. Earlier this month Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $1 billion-dollar of funding over the next 5 years. However, no specifics have been released as of yet. Brenda Moore is the Board Chair of the Kingston Food Sharing Project, who is watching to see what the budget will be for the national food program that feeds 16 000 students. We spoke to her about the situation. Rising Basketball star, Aaliyah Edwards, was officially drafted as the 6th pick for the Washington Mystics as a forward for the team. The Kingston native is a two-time all-American with the NCAA, with a number of accolades in her career. We were elated to celebrate with her and this achievement.

The City of Kingston has been awarded $3.2 million dollars for blowing past the province's housing targets. Mayor Bryan Paterson joined us to talk about the strategy and how they’ll be using this extra cash. The City of Kingston and the downtown B-I-A have decided to install a synthetic ice surface in the downtown core of ice rinks. We spoke with Marijo Cuerrier, the executive Director of the BIA, about the reason behind the change from traditional to synthetic. The Erie Street Community Church in Collingwood will soon have to scale back its hours after the site was found unhygienic and food contaminated. We spoke to Rhonda Day, head of the Mobile Soup Kitchen ,which stocks the pantry, about this decision.

The Young Town Museum in Omemee,later Lindsay, was Trevor Hosier’s love letter to Rock N Roll from the 50s, 60s and 70s. The museum, named after Neil Young, featured items from Young as well as personally owned and worn items from the likes of John Lennon,Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Knicks, just to name a few. We spoke to Trevor Hosier about the timeless museum. This Week, House Leader Paul Calandra said Ontario will support the NDP’s Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act. The decision is an about-face for the Progressive Conservative government who rejected the recommendation last year. We spoke with Kirsten Mercer, counsel for the group 'End Violence Against Women Renfrew County', about the inquest. Gothic Huron: Heroes, Rogues, Murders, Daring, Bawdy Houses and Other Tales is a book about the death cult period of Huron county. It speaks of tales of heroic and villainous deeds while diving into the county’s fascination with death and tragedy of the Victorian Era. We spoke to Author David Yates about this gothic revelation.

Students at Lakehead University are learning the skills required to build a successful business from the Ingenuity incubator. To find out more about the program, we spoke to Sidney Howlet, a recent graduate successfully launched her climate change business, about how it helped build her business. A new bylaw in Coburg that puts conditions on local homeless shelter operation had put many shelters and transitional housing in jeopardy with its restrictions and conditions. This has spurred much discourse that has echoed on the show from Ike Nwibe, the Executive Director of Transitional House. That being said, Coburg Mayor Lucas Cleveland spoke with us to give his perspective. Kelley Ward, the founder of Lost Boys Hope, runs an animal rescue organization based in Barrie that's been saving cats and dogs from Ontario to Manitoba. We spoke to her about her business.

The goal of Green Bowl Foods is to take leftovers and create something nutritious and good for the environment. That could mean taking the pulp from carrots or the barley from brewed beer and “upcycling” the ingredients into a wholesome meal. We spoke with owner Max Jamshidian, about their business. Three Orillia women embark on a journey of help from mother to mother The Mom Collective is a volunteer organization powered by social media, and created by 3 local women. It was created as a space for women in Orillia to find support during or after a crisis strikes. We spoke to Amy Scully, one of the founders, about her organization. Irrepressible: Yukon's Martha Black is a book chronicling the journey of the second congresswoman elected to the house of Commons, Marth Black. From her unconventional life as a businesswoman to congress woman, Author Enid Mallory tells all. Recently, the city of Kingston enacted a ban on daytime camping in their effort to manage the homeless encampment at city parks. Now the town of Cobourg has introduced a new bylaw that puts conditions on shelters and transitional housing. It's called the Emergency Care Establishment By-law. We spoke to Ike Nwibe, the Executive Director of the Transition House Coalition of Northumberland, about the effects of this new law. In January of 2024, snowboarder Liam Brearley took home his first gold medal in the slopestyle event at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation World Cup in Switzerland. Now the 21 year old recently took home Canada’s first Crystal Globe Trophy in a slopestyle competition. We've reached him in Whistler, BC where he's training.

Dr. Andrew Tennenztap recently found a new and more reliable method for fresh water testing. This new method is said to break down the molecular DNA of a water source to make it easy to track changes right to their origin. We spoke with him about this amazing discovery. An influx of churches in Bracebridge have relinquished ownership of local cemeteries. That in turn has created financial pressure for the town which is more than the town can bear. The council is asking the province to step in with a financial boost to ease the burden. We spoke to Mayor Rick Maloney about his plight about the situation. Six years ago Jodi McDaniel signed up for the AncestryDNA test program for health reasons. What she didn't expect was that it would lead her on a journey towards a family member she never met before, her biological father. McDaniel joined us to tell the story.

The students at Georgian College are hosting a special Royal Tea party to support kids who have lost a loved one. They’ve partnered with the Seasons Centre for Grieving Children for this event. We spoke to one of the college students, Kendra Siebert, and a guest, Honestie Slessor, about the upcoming event. For the first time in over 70 years, the Napanee Beaver is no longer a family-owned paper. Managing Editor Adam Prudhomme assumed ownership of the local paper which has been serving the local community since 1870. We spoke to him about this momentous achievement. Superior Court Judge Robert Centa ruled that the Safe Streets Act violates the presumption of innocence and prohibits panhandling in certain locations which violates freedom of expression rights. Barrie Councillor, Keenan Aylwin, spoke to us about the ruling.

Councilors in the Town of Renfrew are calling for the mayor to resign over mismanagement of a big project. It came after a scathing report exposed a lack of oversight and improper handling of contracts for a recreation facility expansion. However, Mayor Tom Sidney is adamant he's not going anywhere. We spoke to him this morning If you're scrambling to find a pair of solar eclipse glasses for the upcoming eclipse, then look no further as you can build an eclipse projector at home for the event. Vice Principal Jim Dewey of Minesing Central Public School has built homemade solar eclipse projectors with his students and he was happy to share how to make it with us. Yesterday was the first day of a bylaw that bans daytime camping in Kingston city parks. Temporary shelters must be set up no earlier than one hour before sunset and dismantled no later than one hour after sunrise. For some insight of the aftermath, we spoke to Pamela Gray, a volunteer with the Integrated Care Hub, who was on site yesterday.

School boards have reported a drastic increase of students vaping on school property since the pandemic. But one board has managed to bring that number down recently by installing vape detectors in the washrooms. We spoke to Emily Samuel, the Principal of Safe Schools with the Near North District School Board, about the results of this pilot project. A bylaw prohibiting daytime sheltering officially comes into effect for the City of Kingston was put into effect today. Over a dozen homeless tenants at Kingstons’ Belle Park encampment will have to vacate the park, their home. We spoke to Paige Agnew, the Commissioner of Growth & Development Services, for the City, about the sudden migration. To The Graves' tells a story of a Private School trying to separate itself from the murder of a student and a Detective-Sergeant on the case who firmly believes that a member of the school's community is responsible. We spoke to Coburg Author Paul Nicholas Mason about this crime thriller.