From Harper Garage to a Peterborough Petes Hockey Jersey: Michael Ignatieff Works (and Charms) Local Crowd

/

It was his joke about getting the Liberal bus repaired at Harper garage that got the crowd at the Holiday Inn in Peterborough laughing.

It was his earnest and hard-hitting speech about the need for the Liberal Party to lose its sense of entitlement and to earn back the right to hold power that won the respect of the mostly Liberal crowd.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, here on Wednesday as part of a summer bus tour across Canada he's on, delivered a rousing speech (see the best part in the video above) which painted a powerful picture of where Harper has been leading the country (to the right of centre and into increasingly secretive, undemocratic turf) and where the Liberal Party intends to take it once again (back to the centre political turf defined by Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and other Liberal Party icons).

Ignatieff—who was accompanied by key members of the Liberal team, as well as his wife Zsuzsanna Zsohar— touched upon the G20 summit, the proposed changes to the census, prorogation, and other hot-button issues.

Peterborough Federal Liberal Candidate Betsy McGregor thanked Ignatieff for his comments and presented him with the Peterborough equivalent of the keys to the town: a Peterborough Petes hockey jersey.

—video and text by Ann Douglas, PtboCanada contributor

[Michael Ignatieff - Holiday Inn, Peterborough: Liberal Express Tour - Part I; Michael Ignatieff - Holiday Inn, Peterborough: Liberal Express Tour - Part II; Betsy McGregor Thanks Michael Ignatieff; Presents Him With a Peterborough Petes Hockey Jersey]   

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

Peterborough's Mike Fisher Makes The Cover of People Magazine

/

Peterborough's Rising Talent Show Their Stuff

/

Top Talent Search

In 2009, 72 talent routines competed against each other to find the best act in Peterborough. Carter Mahoney won with a fantastic juggling act. This year, Peterborough's rising talent has grown even further.
Read More

Ribfest Is Coming Up This Weekend!

/

Rare Grill House will be competing in the 8th Annual Ribfest this weekend (July 9 to July 11) at Millennium Park, which marks the first time a local restaurant will compete against the other ribbers setting up shop.

Organizers say that they can squeeze in about 8,000 people to the park to enjoy the music, food, beer tent, and other entertainment. Sass Jordan will headline this year's Ribfest on Friday (July 9) starting at 9 p.m, with The Kings set to switch into glide Saturday (July 10) starting at 9 p.m.

Admission is FREE, and Ribfest hours are as follows: Friday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.

 
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

New Website Promoting Local Farm Launches

/

A new website has just launched for Harley Farms. Harrison Perkins created the site in order "to promote this local farm that focuses on sustainable agriculture and free range animals." The farm is located southeast of Peterborough, heading towards Keene, at 1578 Heritage Line.

To contact the operators of the farm, call 705.295.4656 or email them here.

[Harley Farms]

[photo provided by Harrison Perkins]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

Jian Ghomeshi Takes Us Through A Virtual Tour of Peterborough's New Market Hall

/

What Will Become of Portage Place?

/

Once upon a time, Portage Place was the mall you just had to visit. There were lots of stores and shops and food court options, and business was booming. But all that seems like distant memory now.

You know things are bad at Portage Place when one of the shops in there that customers are loyal to is forced to shut its doors.

As MyKawartha reports, The Gourmet Cup is closing today due to lack of business. The Gourmet Cup has been in the mall since the very beginning, and current owner Lorna Ray has run it since 1996.

"The landlord has done nothing to attract tenants," Ray tells MyKawartha. "It's the state of the mall."

A new management team has been brought in to turn things around at the mall and attract more tenants, but is it too late? Many of the stores in Portage are now vacant, and things appear to be getting worse and worse by the day. You hardly hear of anyone shopping at Portage anymore. It just feels empty.

What would you do to turn this mall around?

[MyKawartha]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

 

Someone Told Us It's All Happening At The Zoo

/

 

Our zoo is fantastic—and free. And this year it is celebrating its 75th anniversary, with special events including their first annual fundraising Gala in August to help raise funds for an animal care building to house animals in need of special attention.

Be a tourist in your own city, and go check out our wonderful zoo—or if you've already been, go again and again.

Here are some videos that people have shot there over the years:

 



And hey, why not... take a ride to the zoo.

[Riverview Park and Zoo]

[Related: Interactive Tour of Riverview Park and Zoo; Simon & Garfunkel: At The Zoo]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

Peterborough Activists Insist The Media is Missing the Message with the G8/G20 Protests

/

 

The media are missing the messages that really matter about the G8/G20 protests in Toronto this weekend.

That's what organizers of a peaceful rally and discussion held at Peterborough's Confederation Park on Sunday afternoon wanted the crowd of roughly 100 people who turned out for an afternoon of information and entertainment to know.

The event included speeches from Peterborough-area activists who participated in rallies and other events in Toronto this week; political analysis from other area activists such as John Etches, Jo Hayward-Haines and Roy Brady; a political dance performance by local dancer Ryan Kerr; and a music performance by Dub Trinity.

Members of The Peterborough Community Mobilization Network organized the event to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the G8/G20 summits. 

Barb Woolner and Leah Finity, two Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) board members who attended the rally together, each expressed frustration about the media coverage the G20 protests in Toronto had received in the mainstream media—specifically the emphasis on the acts of violence at the expense of the important messages being carried by the protesters.

"I don't think that's what people are looking for from the media—not if they are critical observers. They are waiting, waiting, waiting for those other stories about why those peaceful demonstrators were out there," said Woolner. "The media has twisted what it means to be a demonstrator. They've lost sight of what makes the movement so rich. We're not all saying the same thing."

—video and text by Ann Douglas, PtboCanada contributor

[Don't Believe Everything You Read in the Mainstream Media About the G20 Protests]

[For all videos shot by Ann Douglas at the Peterborough rally, click here.]

 Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

A Video Tour of Peterborough's New YWCA Crossroads Shelter

/