Peterborough-Kawartha MPP, Dave Smith addressed the General Committee of Peterborough City Council on Monday, February 13th in order to provide more information on a proposed bid for Provincial funding which, if successful, would see the creation of six detox and six treatment beds in the City which was announced alongside Peterborough Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Thomas Piggot earlier Monday at Showplace Performance Centre.

The funding, which will be sourced from the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, will amount to $1.138M per year over the two-year period and would be offered in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Haliburton, Kawartha, and Pine Ridge Branch in addition to Fourcast.

The announcement of a proposed treatment centre comes as Peterborough Public Health announced that January 2023 saw ten suspected drug poisoning deaths, double the pace of 2022. 

During his opening remarks to Councillors, Smith noted that “you do more for your friends than you do for yourself” in an effort to underline the importance of the municipalities working with the province in the spirit of partnership.

“With the number of new Councillors that are here, you may not be aware of some of the relationships that are ongoing,” Smith added before adding that “the Province is one of your partners.” 

Smith welcomed the new Council as a “breath of fresh air” - a sentiment that he suggested has been echoed by members of the community. Specifically, Smith brought up the return of bi-weekly meetings with the Mayors within his riding and said that the people of Peterborough should be pleased to know that under the new Council, and with the exception of a death in the family, they have been represented at these meetings.

Without bringing up members of the previous Council by name, Smith suggested that under the leadership of Mayor Diane Therrien, the City of Peterborough had been represented at approximately ten percent of the 122 mayors meetings he had convened since taking office.

When reached for comment on this, Therrien told Arthur in an email that she attended the bi-weekly meetings, which she highlighted began shortly after the COVID-19 State of Emergency, when she was able to and “when there were pertinent issues to discuss.”

“As the meetings were for all mayors/wardens/reeves in MPP Smith's riding, the discussions were often about issues that are specific to rural areas and not necessarily of import to the City proper,” Therrien wrote. 

When Smith did eventually get to the topic of Public Health in the City, he mentioned that the situation Council found itself in with regard to the 22% increase in City Public Health funding should not be blamed on Dr. Piggott. 

“I cannot in good conscience say that he did anything wrong, because he didn’t,” Smith said before adding that the decisions made by the previous Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Rosana Salvaterra who spent 13 years in the position before retiring in 2021 put the City in that position.

When asked what she thought of Smith's choice to dwell on the actions of former elected officials and retired health experts, Therrien was characteristically candid, telling Arthur that she didn’t see how this “harping” about the past was relevant to the update.

Instead, she saw it as “a chance for [Smith] to continue his tradition of attempting to discredit [her] and Dr. Salvaterra, strong women leaders with vastly different politics than his” which might stem from a desire “to try and avoid responsibility for delaying the work on the CTS and detox beds thus far.” 

Beyond the previous announcement concerning the funding bid for the new treatment facility, Councillors asked questions about the possible implications of Provincial legislation including Bills 23 and 109 as well as Federal-Provincial matters in the re-framing of Bill C75, and recent discussion between Premiers and Justin Trudeau on healthcare funding. 

Smith was tight-lipped on any Provincial budget matters, especially as they pertained to the provincial laws and their implications on a municipality’s ability to collect or offset lost revenue from developer fees. Revealing any budgetary matters to Council now, Smith said, would place the Minister of Finance, Peter Bethlenfalvy, in a conflict of interest scenario given the demands on the Provincial Government from other areas of Ontario.  

In all, Smith said that he doesn’t believe that this will be the issue that it’s being made out to be by the City, citing the $26M in reserves from development charges and the fact that costs for developers have risen $47K. 

Ottobabee Ward Councillor, Lesley Parnell, was quick to point out that the $26M alluded to by Smith was money that had been accounted for and devoted to capital projects and infrastructure. 

In terms of Federal health transfers, Smith remained equally silent and made it clear to Council that nothing had actually been agreed to yet. 

Bill C75, a piece of Federal law passed in 2019 which outlines restrictions on the bail conditions for individuals who have committed violent offences and codified a 2017 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, has recently been under fire by the Federal Conservatives and Canadian Premiers.

Smith was clear in his messaging concerning C75 and his feelings around it: “If you don’t want to be in jail stop committing crimes.”

Following Smith’s presentation, Mayor Jeff Leal moved to allocate $100,000 per year over the two years of the proposed program, which passed unanimously 10-0 with Northcrest Councillor Andrew Beamer not being present.