Peterborough Currents

Peter Williams has a long history doing harm reduction work, though he didn’t necessarily realize it as such at the time, but he notices now looking back on it. “What I know now looking back is that I was doing harm reduction work but that wasn’t necessarily the framework for it,” he says during our conversation for the Neighbours podcast. He started out working with an HIV/AIDS hospice in Toronto...

The Peterborough Drug Strategy was started in 2009 as a way to bring different organizations together to coordinate a joint response to the drug crisis. Today, they’re the name behind the projects making headlines responding to the overdose crisis: from the Consumption and Treatment Services site to the Mobile Supportive Overdose Resource Team and many more. It is an unincorporated collective with...

Patrick Walsh is a local musician and radio show host, making music under the moniker Dirty Pat Walsh. Walsh also experiences chronic pain due to workplace injuries and repetitive stress. It’s a condition he manages with his doctor through prescribed opiates. To kick off season one of the Neighbours podcast, which is looking at the opioid crisis in Peterborough, host Ayesha Barmania interviews Wal...

On Monday, Peterborough’s city council sat for the last meeting of 2020 and voted to approve the budget documents drafted by city staff with amendments. Peterborough Currents has been covering these deliberations for the past month and in this episode, co-publishers Ayesha Barmania and Will Pearson go over the highlights of this meeting so you can hear what happened. Episode transcript Ayesha 0:00...

In our sixth episode of the Budget Week podcast, co-publishers Ayesha Barmania and Will Pearson go over how the draft 2021 municipal budget addresses the issue of affordable housing and homelessness. In particular, we look at funding for the city’s shelters, rent supplements, incentives for affordable housing, and changes to funding from higher levels of government. Episode transcript Ayesha Barma...

Last week, Peterborough city councillors sat as the finance committee to review each page of the 2021 draft municipal budget highlights book. This year, it was three evenings of deliberations and discussion, which gave councillors an opportunity to ask questions about city operations and propose amendments to the draft budget put forward by staff. Co-publishers Ayesha Barmania and Will Pearson hav...

For our fourth episode of the Budget Week podcast, Peterborough Currents called up Michael Papadacos, head of the City’s infrastructure management division to talk about how the City approaches climate change action. The interview in this episode is an edited version of our conversation; to listen to the unedited version click here . Read an article rounding up climate change projects in the budge...

For our third episode of the Budget Week podcast, Peterborough Currents co-publishers Ayesha Barmania and Will Pearson dive into the proposed changes to the budget for the City’s Social Services Division. Read an article write-up of the changes to the division by clicking here . Episode transcript 0:01 Ayesha Hello, you’re listening to Peterborough Currents. I’m Ayesha Barmania. This is episode th...

For our second episode of the Budget Week podcast, Peterborough Currents spoke with Su Ditta, executive director of the Electric City Culture Council to learn more about the role of advocates in the budget process and what she’s advocating for the 2021 municipal budget. The audio in this episode is an edited version of the interview. To listen to the unedited interview, click here . Episode transc...

To kick off our Budget Week podcast, Peterborough Currents spoke with Dean Pappas, city councillor for town ward and chair of the finance committee about the impact of COVID-19 on the city budget and how the process is unfolding this year. The audio in this episode is an edited version of the interview. To listen to the unedited interview, click here . Episode transcript 0:01 Ayesha Hi there, you’...

Introducing a new podcast from Peterborough Currents all about the 2021 municipal budget deliberations. On Monday November 16, 2020, citizens will have one of their last opportunities to publicly address city council regarding the 2021 draft budget. The following week, city council will sit as the finance committee to deliberate and make any changes to the budget it deems necessary. City council i...

In December 2018, following the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, Maryam Monsef joined Peterborough Currents host Ayesha Barmania for an interview about gender-based violence. Monsef is the Member of Parliament for Peterborough-Kawartha and cabinet minister for the Status of Women. During the previous months there had been several stories of women in the local area...

During the 2018 municipal election, Peterborough voters cast their ballots and elected in Diane Therrien, who previously served as a city councillor for Town Ward. Peterborough Currents invited Mayor-elect Diane Therrien to join us on our live radio show, broadcast through the facilities of Trent Radio. Co-hosts Ayesha Barmania and Will Pearson interviewed Therrien and opened the phone lines (with...

During the 2018 municipal election, Peterborough Currents set out to interview each of the candidates for the KPRDSB Board of Trustees. This special program includes nine interviews with the City of Peterborough candidates, the County of Peterborough candidates and those who were acclaimed, and interviews with the student-elected trustees. Find time codes below for when each interview begins: (00:...

In 2018, the Peterborough Currents team created themed episodes as a way to explore stories in the community. This episode about food delved into six stories about growing food, selling food, making food, working with food, and the politics of food. Find time codes below for when each story begins: (0:24) Another season of gardening kicks off at Seedy Sunday; (4:40) an interview with a Peterboroug...

In 2018, the Peterborough Currents team created themed episodes as a way to explore stories in the community. This episode about housing delved into seven stories about homes and housing. Find time codes below for when each story begins: (00:40) an afternoon on the farm of Peter and Ada Leahy; (07:20) visiting with current and historical residents of homes in The Avenues; (19:10) an interview with...