“Victim blaming” pedestrians? … plus more local news

You’re reading the March 11, 2025, edition of the Peterborough Currents email newsletter. To receive our email newsletters straight to your inbox, sign up here.

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Good afternoon, and welcome to the Peterborough Currents newsletter.

A new street safety campaign in Peterborough suggests pedestrians avoid walking after dark, among other tips. Pedestrian advocates say that message is not helpful and ignores what’s really needed to make walking safer in Peterborough.

Also in this newsletter: Dozens of Peterborough residents flocked to a north-end clinic on Tuesday, March 11 for a chance to get connected to a family doctor. I spoke with several people as they waited in line.

Let’s get to it!

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“Victim blaming”: safety campaign telling pedestrians in Peterborough to avoid walking at night faces criticism

A new pedestrian safety campaign launched by the city, county, city police and Peterborough Public Health is facing criticism, with one advocate saying it amounts to “victim blaming.”

Last Wednesday, the organizations put out a joint news release with a series of safety tips for pedestrians on city streets and rural roads. One of the tips is to avoid walking at night.

“If possible, avoid walking after dark, especially on rural roads as visibility is low, and drivers may not expect pedestrians. If walking is unavoidable, ensure you have sufficient lighting and reflective gear,” the release states.

Telling people not to walk at night is “ridiculous,” said Sue Sauve, the city’s former transportation demand management planner. “People walk home from work in the winter time – it’s dark at 4:30 [p.m.],” she said.

Sauve said the campaign, called #walksafe, puts too much emphasis on pedestrian behaviour, when driver behaviour and road design should be the priority in safety initiatives.

The release includes nine tips for pedestrians, such as wearing reflective clothing and choosing routes that are well-lit and have the least amount of traffic. Meanwhile, there are three tips for drivers to avoid hitting pedestrians, such as following the speed limit and looking twice before turning.

“This campaign is a 1950s-style education campaign that has been proven time and time again to not have any effect on the rates of pedestrian injuries,” Sauve said.

What would make streets safer? One thing the city could do is install advanced pedestrian signals to give people on foot a head start when crossing intersections so they are more visible to drivers, Sauve said. Curb extensions could also be added to intersections to give pedestrians more protection when crossing streets, she said.

“We want to see that kind of change instead of this victim blaming kind of education campaign,” she said. She called for the city to create an “evidence-based transportation safety plan” that ensures streets are safe for everyone.

Pamela Fuselli, CEO of injury prevention charity Parachute Canada, said education campaigns like this one are “one of the less effective” ways to boost road safety.

“There are still pedestrians that are… doing all the right things, they’re obeying all the rules of the road, and they’re still hit,” she said.

She said changes to road design are crucial to limit vehicle speeds and protect pedestrians.

“Putting the onus on pedestrians is not the right way to do it,” she said. She said streets should be designed in a way that allows pedestrians to “make a mistake and not be killed for it.”

Peterborough has installed traffic calming measures designed to limit vehicle speeds on several residential streets in recent years, but city council has voted against continuing to roll out more of the measures for the last two years. Council has instead asked city staff to look into the feasibility of lowering the speed limit to 40 kilometers per hour city wide.

There were 44 pedestrian-involved collisions in the area patrolled by Peterborough Police in 2024, according to the news release. Thirty-nine of them resulted in an injury.

A Peterborough Police spokesperson defended the #walksafe campaign in a statement sent on behalf of all four organizations involved.

“Keeping pedestrians safe on the road is a responsibility shared among all road users,” Sandra Dueck wrote. “Accordingly, tips were provided for both pedestrians and motorists.”

She added that pedestrian safety “is a shared responsibility best addressed by a variety of interventions.”

CORRECTION: This article has been corrected to note that criticism for the campaign has not solely been directed at the Peterborough Police Service and that the campaign was launched in a joint news released by the city, county, city police and Peterborough Public Health.

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Dozens flock to Peterborough clinic for chance to get a family doctor

Dozens of people streamed to a north-end medical clinic on Tuesday morning for a chance to get a family doctor.

Koda Molders joined the rush of people signing up to become a patient at Northcrest Pharmacy and Medical Centre, on Marina Blvd. She said she hasn’t had a family doctor in about 13 years.

“I actually cried in there because, you know, I’ve been waiting for so long,” Molders said after leaving the clinic.

The clinic recently welcomed a new physician, named Dr. Tifase, according to its website. People can visit the clinic to register for a shot at becoming a patient of the new doctor between Tuesday and Friday this week.

Molders said she has a permanent disability due to a mental health condition. When she couldn’t get a family doctor a few years ago, she decided to continue her post-secondary education just so she could get health care services through her school, she said.

“I’ve been in school for eight years because that’s the only way that I can see a doctor,” she said. It has meant racking up extra debt just so she can access medical care, she said.

“I think that the government needs to do something to help doctors resettle here,” she said.

Rick Clapper, 60, said he hasn’t had a doctor since he was in his early twenties. “I haven’t been really sick or anything, but I’m 60 now, so it’s about time I get one,” he said.

He’s faced some health challenges more recently, and said it’s a “little tough” having to rely on the emergency department and walk-in clinics when he needs to see a doctor.

Jean-Luc, who didn’t give his last name, said many of his friends who grew up in Peterborough and still live here have family doctors. But he lost the one he had through the Canadian Armed Forces when he left the military in 2017.

More than 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor. The newly re-elected Ford government has committed to spend $1.8 billion “to connect two million more people to a publicly funded family doctor or primary care team within four years.”

Councillors want to drop social media platform X

Peterborough city councillors voted to cut back on city hall’s use of the social media platform X to communicate with residents at general committee on Monday. The platform is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, a top advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Councillor Matt Crowley brought forward the motion, saying X is failing to crack down on hate speech and misinformation on its platform.

“The social media platform X, once known as Twitter, is now a platform where unbridled falsehoods flourish and where its ownership espouses values that stand in stark opposition to the principles of democracy and fair governance,” Crowley said. “Suggesting a move away from X is not a matter of preference, it is a battle of integrity.”

Crowley’s motion calls for the city to stop using X, except to send out emergency information and alerts from Peterborough Transit and fire services. The motion asks staff to look into ways for the city to communicate more directly with residents in the future in order to eliminate the use of X. The decision still has to be ratified at an upcoming city council meeting

Local school board part of legal fight against social media giants

A group of Ontario school boards say a lawsuit they have brought against Meta, Snapchat and TikTok can proceed after clearing a legal hurdle, according to the Canadian Press.

In the last year, 14 Ontario school boards and individual schools have filed lawsuits against the social media giants, alleging that their platforms are intentionally addictive and are harming students. The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board is one of the boards.

According to the Canadian Press, a judge has dismissed an attempt by the social media companies to have one of the suits thrown out, allowing the case to proceed.

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