On Friday, May 3, I had the honour of attending a ceremony at the Peterborough armouries to name a bridge on Highway 115 after an OPP officer. May 3 was chosen for the ceremony because on that date in 1928, Provincial Constable Norman F. Maker was called to attend a disturbance with a possible weapon at the Montgomery House Hotel in Peterborough. When the officers arrived, the suspect fled up a flight of stairs to his room. PC Maker and his partner pursued the suspect up the stairs, and the suspect emerged from his room with a handgun. The suspect proceeded to discharge his weapon, killing Norman and wounding his partner.

PC Norman Maker was the third OPP officer officially killed in the line of duty in Ontario’s history.

Norman Maker was only 32 years old. He was survived by his wife, Muriel, and their two daughters, Norma, who was three, and Connie, who was only three months old.

All of this came to light when Norman’s oldest daughter, Norma, passed away on December 4, 2021, and her obituary told the story of her father. From that obituary, the Peterborough detachment started the work to honour PC Maker. They found the newspaper reports and his official death certificate to validate the story, and on May 3 of this year, the 96th anniversary of the day that PC Maker was killed, he was finally honoured.

Norman F. Maker: a hero in life, not in death.

Today, I’d like to celebrate the 38-year career of Inspector John Lyons, because last Friday, John retired. He started his career way back in 1986, before I even had my driver’s licence. Back then, as part of his contract with the Peterborough police, he had to agree to live in the city limits in order to be a police officer.

He started with Peterborough police. There was a merger with Lakefield, and the service became the Peterborough Lakefield police. And then, eventually, it became the Peterborough Police Service again.

He joined the force after moving from Gananoque to attend Sir Sandford Fleming College in their security and administration program. He moved up through the ranks throughout his career and ended his career as an inspector.

When I was first elected, John was the officer who took me along for my very first ride-along. It was an interesting day, to say the least. Those who know John know he has a lot of stories to tell. I think I heard almost all of those stories that day in the cruiser.

John epitomizes what a community police officer should be. He loves his community. He loved his job. And everyone around him loved to be with him.

John, we’ll miss you on the beat, but I know that this really just frees up your time to give back to your community. Congratulations on your retirement.

Today I’m bringing some bittersweet news from Peterborough. A good friend of mine has decided to hang up the laces, so to speak. She has been an exemplary public servant in Peterborough for close to 40 years. This Friday, April 28, will be the final day at city hall for Peterborough’s chief administrative officer, Sandra Clancy.

As a resident of the city, I had worked with Sandra on a number of different initiatives long before I was the MPP. I suppose with almost 40 years devoted to Peterborough, there are a lot of people she has worked with.

Sandra was born and raised in Peterborough and started working for the city in 1985. Some might say she wasn’t able to hang on to a job, because throughout her time, she has been the chief accountant, financial manager, treasurer, corporate services director and CAO.

She worked during a few challenging times: the great flood of 2004 and, of course, COVID-19. Although she has faced her challenges, she has remained dedicated to the people of Peterborough.

Speaker, for me, she has been a great resource. All throughout my time as the MPP, I’ve been able to reach out and discuss whatever the issue of the day was and know that Sandra was working with me to resolve it.

Sandra, I’m going to miss you, but I know that you’re only a phone call away. You’ve told me that you’re looking forward to spending more time with your kids during your retirement. So please enjoy your retirement.

I’d like to introduce two police officers from my riding: Sergeant Jeff Chartier and Mark Ballantine.