Thurs Feb 12 – Local News, Views & Events

News and updates involving Summerfolk Festival, Brightshores Health System, Owen Sound Council, Weaver Creek Boardwalk, Northern Bruce Peninsula, West Grey Police, and more

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Photo by Jasper Garratt on Unsplash

A Note to Our Readers

While Owen Sound Current focuses narrowly on local news and does not cover provincial or national stories, our hearts are not closed to our neighbours across Canada.

Today, like many of you, we are mourning with the community of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

A small town has suffered a devastating act of violence. Children, educators, and family members have been lost. Survivors are recovering in hospitals — one young girl, Maya, is fighting for her life. Friends and neighbours are reeling from grief, confusion, and disbelief.

In solidarity, flags across Owen Sound and Meaford have been lowered to half-mast.

We extend our deepest condolences to everyone affected: to those who have lost loved ones, those recovering from injuries, and a country now navigating grief that will take time and care to carry.

At the same time, there is a tendency to search for answers, ask hard questions, and try to make sense of something senseless. That impulse is normal and deeply human. We feel compelled to understand, to prevent, to explain.

But events like this rarely offer easy answers.

Already, speculation is circulating about mental illness, warning signs, and blame. It’s important to remember that mental illness is common in Canada: about one in five people experience it each year, or roughly eight million people. The overwhelming majority never harm anyone.

Some online speculation has focused on the gender identity of the shooter. Yet we also know, based on years of national and international research, that transgender people are far more likely to experience violence than to perpetrate it, particularly self-harm and suicide.

According to Statistics Canada, trans and non-binary people face disproportionately high rates of discrimination, poverty, and mental health struggles — yet there is no evidence to suggest they are more likely to commit violence against others.

Reducing a tragedy like this to a single factor risks deepening stigma and obscuring the many complex, intersecting circumstances that make such acts so rare, and so difficult to predict.

Holding space for sorrow, confusion, and care, even without full understanding, is also a completely valid and deeply human response.

If there is one place Canada consistently shows its strength, it is in community. When something like this happens in a small town (particularly when the harm comes from within), the rupture is profound.

Yet it is also in community that we see extraordinary care: vigils lit by candlelight, meals delivered, classrooms held together by compassion, neighbours checking in on one another.

In moments like this, the most important work is not speculation to determine a root cause. It is care.

Care for those grieving. Care for young people who may feel frightened or confused. Care for one another as we process difficult news. And care in how we speak, resisting the urge to amplify rumours or assign easy narratives before facts are clear.

Today, we join communities across the country in reflection, compassion, and collective steadiness. If you or someone you know is struggling right now, please know that help is available.

• Grey Bruce Crisis Line: 1‑877‑470‑5200

• Kids Help Phone: 1‑800‑668‑6868 or text CONNECT to 686868

• Men’s Counselling Link 2-1-1

Or call 211 for help navigating the complex network of human services available locally. 211 operates 24 hours a day.

Public Notices

• The Cabot Head Road Public Engagement Survey is open now - Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula

• School Board budget surveys are now open: See the Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board (BGCDSB) survey here and Bluewater District School Board (BWDSB) survey here

Keep Reading

… for original reporting and curated news, obituaries, weather, local governance, and what’s happening in local events.

Today you’ll find reports on a close call for a local OPP officer hit by a vehicle, details on Council’s plan to rebuild Weaver’s Creek boardwalk in Harrison Park, a look ahead at 211 Day, ongoing safety concerns about Sauble Falls Parkway, and a lot more.

Read on.

Miranda Miller
Editor

Local News