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EXAMINERTHE PETERBOROUGH

Lynn McCabeSales Associate

United Realty Inc.Brokerage

The Local Experts

Bus. 743-4444McWILLIAMSMOVING & STORAGE LTD.

Unsafecity corea myth,

sayschief

Downtown crimeactually in declineBy BRENDAN WEDLEYExaminer Staff Writer

A political shot at crime and safe-ty downtown has sent Peterbor-ough’s police chief on the offensiveto dispel statements he says arenot true.

City police Chief Terry McLarene-mailed crime statistics to citychief administrator Linda Reedand Town Ward Coun. BernieCahill Tuesday after he witnessedcouncil candidate Joel Parkes talkabout the downtown as unsafe dur-ing city council Monday.

There has notbeen an increasein crime down-town, McLarensaid yesterday.

“We consider ita very safe loca-tion and it is thehub of our com-munity and peo-ple should feelsafe to go down-town,” he said.

Extra policepresence down-town in the formof foot patrols,bicycle patrols,dedicated officersand policeassigned to coverthe peak barhours havehelped reducecrime in the area,McLaren said.

The amount of recorded criminalactivity decreased every year from2002-06, according to Peterbor-ough-Lakefield Community PoliceService statistics. This year, crimedowntown dropped 5.4 per centfrom 2005 at the same time lastyear, police state.

In 2005, the amount of crimeacross the city decreased 0.03 percent compared to 2004 while down-town was 0.05 per cent less.

“I thought I would share thesenumbers as we hope the folkswatching (city council) from homeor who were in the audience do notperceive that the downtown is acrime-ridden area that people maybe afraid to venture into,” McLarenstates in the e-mail obtained byThe Examiner.

In the e-mail, McLaren credits thesupport of council in getting morepolice through provincial grants andtax increases. Council approved thehiring of five more officers in Febru-ary that will be subsidized by theprovincial government.

Despite the statistics, safety is aperception and people simply won’tgo downtown, Parkes said.

“I’ve met many people who hadbroken windows and many peoplewho had urine at their doorways andinto their stores when they come towork in the morning,” he said.

(See: Police...Page A3)

Shock hits as popular sportsman diesBen Byrick, 24,

drowns in B.C. creekBy JEANNE PENGELLYExaminer Staff Writer

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare, afriend’s last wish, and a teacher’sgravest fear — and for a wholecommunity of people who knewBen 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 BritishColumbia coastline, about 450 kilo-metres west of Williams Lake, B.C.

RCMP divers found his body Sat-urday in a glacier-fed creek nearClayton Falls just outside Bella

Coola, B.C.“He was found right where he

went in,” Cpl. Henry Proce of theVernon RCMP said last night.

“There’s a terrific undertow. Itwould just drag you under and pinyou to the bottom,” Proce added.“No one seems to know why heentered the area.”

Others have drowned there,police said. There are fences tokeep people out and signs warningthem of danger.

Mr. Byrick’s family and friendshave spent the last five daysmourning the loss of their son,brother and friend.

His father, Bill Byrick, is athlet-ics director at Trent University andfounding executive director of the

Canadian Canoe Museum. In sad irony, Trent and its Allan

Marshall Pool has won severalannual awards from the LifesavingSociety for having on the largestpost-secondary lifesaving programsin Ontario.

As family prepares for a serviceSaturday, shocked friends — somany of whom have never experi-enced a loss of this kind — wonderedwhat to do, how they could help.

Ben graduated from St. Peter’s in2001.

The school chaplain has beencalling graduates from the class of2001 to notify them, said St. Peter’sEnglish teacher Joe Webster, whotaught Ben.

“Ben was a really lovable guy —

one of those guys you always got asmile from,” he said. “He was avery well-liked kid at school.

“I can see him sitting in my classright now.”

(See: Victim...Page A3)

Necessities of lifeBy RACHEL PUNCHExaminer Staff Writer

Gordon Holnbeck says long-term-care residents are still hungry forsome fresh fruit.

The 90-year-old Fairhaven resi-dent had the chance meet personal-ly with the provincial NDP leaderyesterday to express his concernsabout the lack of funding for foodand care.

“The problem that we see as resi-dents is that the funding from thegovernment is not adequate,”Holnbeck told Howard Hamptonduring a press conference yesterday.

He said the daily food ration forlong-term residents rings in at$5.46. “It means that we have halfa banana about once every twoweeks,” he said.

Holnbeck, who lives at Fairhavenwith his wife, Arbie, said he watch-es as staff struggle to keep up withthe workload.

“We understand what they aregoing through,” Holnbeck said.

Hampton was invited to the cityyesterday to meetwith Holnbeckand about a dozenlong-term-careworkers at thePeterborough andDistrict LabourCouncil hall onAylmer Street.

At a press con-ference after themeeting, headdressed thecrowd, calling onLiberal Premier Dalton McGuinty’selection promise for a “revolutionin long-term care.”

Hampton said the Liberalspromised to up the annual fundingfor each resident by $6,000. Accord-ing to Hampton, the rate has goneup by $2,000.

“(Providing a good) quality of lifefor seniors in long-term-care facili-ties is probably just as difficult nowas it was under the former Conser-vative government,” Hampton said.

Candace Rennick, president ofCUPE Local 2280 representingstaff 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 hadto be signed with the employerstating staffing levels would not godown and money would go directlyto 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 CharlotteStreet yesterday afternoon. Hampton, who met with residents and staff at Fairhaven to discuss funding issues, also took ina 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 lovableguy — one of those guysyou always got a smilefrom.’

Joe Webster, teacher,

St. Peter’s Secondary School