Police Chief Terry McLaren disputes claims that downtown Peterborough is unsafe, citing statistics showing a decline in crime in recent years. Meanwhile, the community mourns the death of 24-year-old Ben Byrick, a popular former student at St. Peter's Secondary School, who drowned in a creek in British Columbia. Provincial NDP leader Howard Hampton calls for more funding for long-term care after meeting 90-year-old Gordon Holnbeck, a resident of Fairhaven care home in Peterborough, who complained about inadequate food rations and staffing levels.

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EXAMINER
THE PETERBOROUGH
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Unsafe
city core
a myth,
says
chief
Downtown crime
actually in decline
By BRENDAN WEDLEY
Examiner Staff Writer
A political shot at crime and safe-
ty downtown has sent Peterbor-
ough’s police chief on the offensive
to dispel statements he says are
not true.
City police Chief Terry McLaren
e-mailed crime statistics to city
chief administrator Linda Reed
and Town Ward Coun. Bernie
Cahill Tuesday after he witnessed
council candidate Joel Parkes talk
about the downtown as unsafe dur-
ing city council Monday.
There has not
been an increase
in crime down-
town, McLaren
said yesterday.
“We consider it
a very safe loca-
tion and it is the
hub of our com-
munity and peo-
ple should feel
safe to go down-
town,” he said.
Extra police
presence down-
town in the form
of foot patrols,
bicycle patrols,
dedicated officers
and police
assigned to cover
the peak bar
hours have
helped reduce
crime in the area,
McLaren said.
The amount of recorded criminal
activity decreased every year from
2002-06, according to Peterbor-
ough-Lakefield Community Police
Service statistics. This year, crime
downtown dropped 5.4 per cent
from 2005 at the same time last
year, police state.
In 2005, the amount of crime
across the city decreased 0.03 per
cent compared to 2004 while down-
town was 0.05 per cent less.
“I thought I would share these
numbers as we hope the folks
watching (city council) from home
or who were in the audience do not
perceive that the downtown is a
crime-ridden area that people may
be afraid to venture into,” McLaren
states in the e-mail obtained by
The Examiner.
In the e-mail, McLaren credits the
support of council in getting more
police through provincial grants and
tax increases. Council approved the
hiring of five more officers in Febru-
ary that will be subsidized by the
provincial government.
Despite the statistics, safety is a
perception and people simply won’t
go downtown, Parkes said.
“I’ve met many people who had
broken windows and many people
who had urine at their doorways and
into their stores when they come to
work in the morning,” he said.
(See: Police...Page A3)
Shock hits as popular sportsman dies
Ben Byrick, 24,
drowns in B.C. creek
By JEANNE PENGELLY
Examiner Staff Writer
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare, a
friend’s last wish, and a teacher’s
gravest fear — and for a whole
community of people who knew
Ben Byrick, it’s all come true.
The 24-year-old St. Peter’s Sec-
ondary School graduate drowned Fri-
day in an isolated area of the British
Columbia coastline, about 450 kilo-
metres west of Williams Lake, B.C.
RCMP divers found his body Sat-
urday in a glacier-fed creek near
Clayton Falls just outside Bella
Coola, B.C.
“He was found right where he
went in,” Cpl. Henry Proce of the
Vernon RCMP said last night.
“There’s a terrific undertow. It
would just drag you under and pin
you to the bottom,” Proce added.
“No one seems to know why he
entered the area.”
Others have drowned there,
police said. There are fences to
keep people out and signs warning
them of danger.
Mr. Byrick’s family and friends
have spent the last five days
mourning the loss of their son,
brother and friend.
His father, Bill Byrick, is athlet-
ics director at Trent University and
founding executive director of the
Canadian Canoe Museum.
In sad irony, Trent and its Allan
Marshall Pool has won several
annual awards from the Lifesaving
Society for having on the largest
post-secondary lifesaving programs
in Ontario.
As family prepares for a service
Saturday, shocked friends — so
many of whom have never experi-
enced a loss of this kind — wondered
what to do, how they could help.
Ben graduated from St. Peter’s in
2001.
The school chaplain has been
calling graduates from the class of
2001 to notify them, said St. Peter’s
English teacher Joe Webster, who
taught Ben.
“Ben was a really lovable guy —
one of those guys you always got a
smile from,” he said. “He was a
very well-liked kid at school.
“I can see him sitting in my class
right now.”
(See: Victim...Page A3)
Necessities of life
By RACHEL PUNCH
Examiner Staff Writer
Gordon Holnbeck says long-term-
care residents are still hungry for
some fresh fruit.
The 90-year-old Fairhaven resi-
dent had the chance meet personal-
ly with the provincial NDP leader
yesterday to express his concerns
about the lack of funding for food
and care.
“The problem that we see as resi-
dents is that the funding from the
government is not adequate,”
Holnbeck told Howard Hampton
during a press conference yesterday.
He said the daily food ration for
long-term residents rings in at
$5.46. “It means that we have half
a banana about once every two
weeks,” he said.
Holnbeck, who lives at Fairhaven
with his wife, Arbie, said he watch-
es as staff struggle to keep up with
the workload.
“We understand what they are
going through,” Holnbeck said.
Hampton was invited to the city
yesterday to meet
with Holnbeck
and about a dozen
long-term-care
workers at the
Peterborough and
District Labour
Council hall on
Aylmer Street.
At a press con-
ference after the
meeting, he
addressed the
crowd, calling on
Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty’s
election promise for a “revolution
in long-term care.”
Hampton said the Liberals
promised to up the annual funding
for each resident by $6,000. Accord-
ing to Hampton, the rate has gone
up by $2,000.
“(Providing a good) quality of life
for seniors in long-term-care facili-
ties is probably just as difficult now
as it was under the former Conser-
vative government,” Hampton said.
Candace Rennick, president of
CUPE Local 2280 representing
staff at St. Joseph’s at Fleming,
said there was a lack of account-
ability of service providers.
She said in 2004, when the gov-
ernment upped funding for long-
term care a service agreement had
to be signed with the employer
stating staffing levels would not go
down and money would go directly
to the front line.
(See: Prison...Page A3)
Clifford Skarstedt, Examiner
Provincial NDP Leader Howard Hampton, left, and former candidate Dave Nickle visit the farmers’ market on Charlotte
Street yesterday afternoon. Hampton, who met with residents and staff at Fairhaven to discuss funding issues, also took in
a World Cup game at Champs and attended a barbecue.
Terry McLaren
Joel Parkes
Gordon Holnbeck
Howard Hampton calls for more funding for long-term-care facilities
‘Ben was a really lovable
guy — one of those guys
you always got a smile
from.’
Joe Webster,
teacher,
St. Peter’s Secondary School