St. Thomas was rocked this week by a pair of arson-related fires, which, thankfully, did not result in any injuries.A blaze early Sunday morning destroyed part of the Acacia Block on Talbot Street, which dates back to 1881.
A couple of young entrepreneurs were close to completing renovations on the building adjacent to the Railway City Transit terminal that would have housed commercial operations on the ground floor and apartments on the second level.
Earlier this year, the ground floor was the campaign headquarters for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton.
Joseph Penfound was quickly apprehended on Sunday morning, and the accused, “a prolific offender,” according to St. Thomas Police, has been charged with arson along with a couple of other offences.
The second incident, a small fire set in a waiting room washroom at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, resulted in minor damage to the floor.
Tharen Stover, also familiar to police, faces several charges, including arson.
Earlier this year, there was a massive blaze at the vacant Weatherhead plant in which two individuals were charged with arson.
And there have been several fires over the past year around the CN Rail yard.
This activity, combined with previous fires started by repeat offenders, prompted St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp this week to stress, “Arson is not just a crime against property – it’s a crime against people.”
In a statement, he continued, “The current bail approach continues to allow high-risk individuals to re-offend once released. Repeat offenders are often competent, strategic and should be held fully responsible for their actions.
“The STPS believes in combining compassion where appropriate, but not an automatic overcompensation to blame social determinants as the cause, and where chronic criminality is treated as a symptom.
“Repeat offenders often show targeted behaviours that disregard victims’ rights, leaving communities to suffer the consequences.”
Likewise, MP Lawton argued in a statement, “This repeat offender (in the Talbot Street fire) should have been behind bars, not on bail.
“Failed Liberal government laws, Bill C-5 and C-75, continue to allow for the catch and release of destructive and violent criminals. These bills have codified the abuse of our bail system, allowing dangerous repeat offenders back on our streets.”
“But what we can’t have is this overcorrection where we’re not enforcing the law, and we’re not seeking justice, and we’re not protecting victims of crime because of these other factors.”
We sat down with Lawton on Thursday to discuss these statements in more detail.
“This is becoming a national trend,” stressed Lawton. “We’ve been hearing for months from police associations, the unions, the frontline officers, the chiefs themselves.
“And St. Thomas is absolutely no exception to this, where they are seeing a tiny number of offenders getting arrested and re-arrested. They’re arrested in the morning, released in the afternoon, and they’re re-offending.”
Lawton continued, “I think there are a couple of factors that we need to keep in mind. One of which is that a lot of the bail issues are a direct result of bad federal policy.
“So the bail law changed a few years ago with a bill called Bill C-75, which put in law something called the principle of restraint, which basically compels judges to look for the earliest opportunity and the least onerous conditions to release people.
“And this, in practice, has resulted in, as Chief Roskamp and others have said, people getting out on the streets far more quickly than they should have been and than they were before this. So as a federal MP, that’s something that I can advocate for.
“We also have to look at the broader network. And there is this idea of social determinants of health. So people who are involved in criminal behaviour because of things like mental illness and addiction.
“And those absolutely have to be dealt with. But what we can’t have is this overcorrection where we’re not enforcing the law, and we’re not seeking justice, and we’re not protecting victims of crime because of these other factors.
“And that’s where people, certainly who I’ve been hearing from, are feeling we’ve been drifting too far toward.
“We can’t be releasing people on bail who have shown a tendency to re-offend. And that’s been what’s happening. People committing crimes, in some cases, elsewhere in the country, very violent crimes while on bail for other violent crimes.
“You know, one thing that I’ve been very aware of now, having been a member of Parliament for a couple of months, is that you have to be able to walk and chew gum. You have to be able to tackle different issues at once.”
Lawton advised that the Talbot Street blaze last Sunday was what prompted the release of his statement on repeat offenders.
“That was right next to Indwell apartments (Railway City Lofts), where vulnerable people are housed. And thank goodness that building was fortified and secured as well as it was, because this could have been deadly. And I’m so grateful it wasn’t. But just because no one was harmed doesn’t mean that there isn’t a big problem that we need to tackle here.
“We have to listen to the police association and the police chief. We’re both in lockstep on this, this week, because they’re saying that they can only do so much with the laws the way they are structured. And that is a call that I think we need to answer. Certainly, as a federal lawmaker, that’s something that I take very seriously.”
Lawton cautioned that the issue should not be put on the back burner while the government deals with U.S. tariffs and the economic impacts in this country.
“You know, one thing that I’ve been very aware of now, having been a member of Parliament for a couple of months, is that you have to be able to walk and chew gum. You have to be able to tackle different issues at once. We need to deal with economic threats to our sovereignty, but we also need to deal with crime. We need to deal with the border. We need to deal with the cost of living.
“Bail reform is key, and it’s one of the few issues you can do that will have a very significant effect and cost no money. Because we’re literally just undoing a bad law that’s only been on the books for a few years.”
“And it’s interesting that the cost of living and affordability have been probably the Number 1 issue for the last two or three years for people. And I think that is very connected to the increase in crime now because when people are not able to afford to have a house, when people are not able to afford food, when people are pushed to the brink, that’s when we see them start going into the criminal paths that have upticks. So I think this is a consequence of us not tackling the other challenge.”
It must be remembered that when President Trump introduced the tariffs on Canadian goods, he stressed it was about securing the border and the flow of fentanyl from Canada to the U.S.
“Certainly, from my perspective, I was talking about border and drug issues before that. I don’t think it should have taken the United States to put this on our radar. And we’ve certainly seen the uptick in drug usage on Talbot Street, in St. Thomas, in London. They’re seeing it as well.
“So that’s something that we need to tackle on our own, irrespective of the U.S. We have a major issue with a homegrown drug trade, with organized crime, with fentanyl coming in from China. And these are hollowing out and destroying communities.”
So, what is Lawton and the Conservative Party of Canada proposing as a solution?
“Bail reform is key, and it’s one of the few issues you can do that will have a very significant effect and cost no money. Because we’re literally just undoing a bad law that’s only been on the books for a few years.
“I’m on the Justice Committee, so I’ll actually get to have a front-row seat on these discussions. We tried to advance a bail reform discussion before the House rose for the summer, and the government didn’t want to have that discussion. But I will certainly be pushing once we go back immediately in September to have that. Because I think what we’re seeing in St. Thomas right now is a sign that we can’t afford to wait much longer on this. We need to start putting solutions forward now.
“So I think that we’re going to have to have all hands on deck. We’re going to have to work across party lines, across levels of government, to get action. But I don’t think that looking at the grandness of the problem can be used as an excuse to not do what we can now.”
As a post note, A St. Thomas man charged with arson last Sunday after a fire destroyed a Talbot Street building adjacent to the Railway City Transit terminal is now facing an additional arson charge.
Around 6:30 a.m. on Canada Day, city firefighters extinguished a small fire on the exterior of a vacant Ross Street building.
Firefighters found an active butane lighter propped against a piece of plywood securing the entrance to the building.
They quickly extinguished the flames before they could spread.
A witness provided a description of a man seen in the area, and police were able to arrest 44-year-old Joseph Penfound.
He has additionally been charged with arson, damage to property.
He was already in custody and will remain there.
IT’S INFECTIOUS AND THE EFFECTS ARE LONG-LASTING
Jumbomania is amongst us.
It began right after Canada Day and is expected to linger until the arrival of spring next year.
That’s Jumbomania as in celebration of Jumbo, the Great African Elephant, who was struck and killed by a train in St. Thomas on Sept. 15, 1885.
In honour of the occasion, the Elgin County Heritage Centre has unveiled a colourful exhibit that honours the life of Jumbo and his enduring influence.
Curator Maddy Howard has teamed up with guest curator Dariusz Korbiel for a colourful presentation that “takes visitors on an extraordinary journey through Jumbo’s life, from his early days at Jardin des Plantes in Paris to his time at the London Zoological Gardens, and finally to North America under the management of P.T. Barnum,” according to a media release.
We visited the display this week and spoke with Howard and Korbiel.
“So Dariusz actually approached me last spring,” recalled Howard, “and he brought me a proposal, I believe at the end of summer, and basically said, let’s do this. So, since last September, we have been planning for this exhibit. So it has been just about a year in the process, and I know that Dariusz has also been doing work well before this as well.”
About two years of research have gone into the project, added Korbiel.
“I was born here, and we all have an interest in it. We all have a fascination with Jumbo,” he noted.
“Well, I’m not from St. Thomas, I’m from London,” observed Howard. “So I’ve known about Jumbo my whole life as well. But I only really knew about the end of the story.
“So, to learn more about the beginning of the story. To be able to learn more about his life, the incredible legacy that he left behind, and also the incredible fan base that he had during his lifetime.
“I think is just such an incredible story to share with people. And especially for the 140th anniversary, just to celebrate that life and that legacy were really important to both Dariusz and me.”
Of course, last week in this corner, we spent time with Steve Peters and the significant amount of Jumbo material and memorabilia he has collected. And as it turns out, much of that material is included in the exhibit, acknowledged Howard.
“Yes, I would say 85 to 90 per cent of the artifacts that we have on display came in some way, shape or form from Steve. So you will see his name a lot on the exhibition labels.
“But yeah, it’s just been so hard to choose what to put into the exhibit because, like you said, there are just so many pieces of material that have his name on them.”
“I must admit, I think we tried to fit as much in as we could. So I think there were a lot of things that were particularly unique.
Even the name of the presentation, Jumbomania, has a unique aspect to it, pointed out Korbiel.
“It’s the only mania that’s related to an animal. So his name is currently the only one associated with an animal to have mania at the end.”
Howard picked up on that thought.
“But that was sort of when Dariusz and I were talking about this exhibit was to not just focus on Jumbo’s life, but also the frenzy and the craze and the mania that this one giant animal inspired across the world and still inspires today.
“So that sort of was a big inspiration for the name that Darius came up with was to highlight the mania.
“And so I think his mania and the craze about Jumbo is just something that’s so intrinsic to his story and is something that is so connected to not just St. Thomas and Elgin county but with the whole world because that mania did not die down once he died; it got bigger and bigger and bigger and just kind of snowballed into what it is today.
“So I think that his legacy is something that really cannot be understated, but also the love that people had for him just kept growing and growing and growing.”
This begs the question: what if Jumbo had not been struck by a train that day and continued to London the next day, as scheduled?
Korbiel picked up on that possibility and noted, “He was already a huge name, a huge celebrity, and I think P.T. Barnum being, you know, the businessman and promoter that he was, he would have continued to make Jumbo a big name, but it definitely would have changed the way that we think about him.
” There wouldn’t have been that link to St. Thomas.”
An obvious extension for the exhibit is to open it up to school tours and let youngsters enjoy the Jumbo experience.
“Jumbo means so much to the world, but he also means so much here locally for people, and that’s really what we wanted to highlight as well. It’s not just his connection to the international stage, but to the more local stage as well.”
Howard ran with that thought.
“So we are hoping to do some tours, and then, as for after the exhibit as well, part of this will also be turned into an education kit for the museum to take out and present to different institutions as well.
“So he will still live on at the museum. But yeah, this exhibit has been great because it can teach people who don’t know about Jumbo, but also has so much stuff for people who still know about Jumbo and still love him. So there’s something for everybody to come and see.”
When we visited the exhibit, it had been open for about a week, so we were curious as to the reception from the public.
“Everybody has been very excited about it,” enthused Howard. “And like I said before, you know, everybody has so much love and interest in Jumbo. So far, the people who have come in have said that they’ve absolutely loved it.
“They’ve really enjoyed it, which is always, you know, very encouraging to hear when you spend over a year working on something. You want to make sure you do it justice.”
It truly is an enlightening exhibit for youngsters over the summer break.
To learn first-hand from material like this, as opposed to just reading about it in a book or a magazine. To physically see things and touch them.
From a purely personal point of view, Howard expanded on that thought.
“I sort of speak for myself here, working in the heritage and museum sector, but to actually get to see a physical artifact or object in front of you and know this was here 140 years ago.
“And I think with kids especially, to have that opportunity to see something, you know, that predates screens, that predates all those kinds of things that they know and are familiar with, there’s a whole history that goes before that.
“And I think especially with Jumbo, as I mentioned earlier, there are just so many things that he’s influenced that there’s no shortage of items for people to see.”
Even to the display panel of NHLer Joe Thornton, who eventually inherited the nickname ‘Jumbo Joe.’
“I think it just goes to show,” added Howard, “Jumbo means so much to the world, but he also means so much here locally for people, and that’s really what we wanted to highlight as well. It’s not just his connection to the international stage, but to the more local stage as well.”
The conversation turned to the iconic photo of people gathered around the body of Jumbo, still on the railroad tracks.
“It was taken the next day,” explained Korbiel. “And it was taken by the Scott Studio as well, so that iconic image is also from a local photographer.”
Perhaps a lasting impression for many visitors to the exhibit was the horrendous conditions that Jumbo had to endure.
“Although I think it was a lot worse for him at the start because it wasn’t really a zoo to start with,” noted Howard. “It was a menagerie, like a travelling menagerie. So, you know, they were picking up and moving from city to city all the time. And I’m sure the conditions were just horrid.
“And then by the time he was in Paris, he was severely malnourished and neglected. So by the time he made it to his home in London, Matthew Scott (Jumbo’s keeper) had had a hard job of nursing him back to health to get him to be, you know, even just make it through the night.”
As part of the circus in North America, Jumbo and Matthew Scott travelled in a private railway car, advised Korbiel.
“He actually didn’t like the circus car at all. He just found the noises very frightening. And the way that his palace car was built, it was like literally just three inches off the track. The middle part was sunken. And it was even shaped oddly.”
Just one of the reasons circuses are generally devoid of animals today.
That observation prompted one last piece of research from Korbiel.
There are only three African elephants in Canada right now, all in Quebec.
The legacy of Jumbo is told through original posters, photographs, illustrations, artifacts and newspapers. Partnered with Jumbo’s likeness in marketing campaigns, advertising, souvenirs and memorabilia.
Here are the details on Jumbomania:
📅 Duration: July 2, 2025 – March 20, 2026
⏰ Hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
📍 Location: Elgin County Heritage Centre (460 Sunset Drive)
🚗 Parking: Please park behind the County Building next door, entrance off Karen St.
💵 Admission: Free
Related post:
NOT A GOOD YEAR FOR THE CITY BUDGET
This past year proved to be a trying year financially for the city. A budget deficit had been predicted; however, a report to council from the city’s finance director indicates that the deficit is much greater than anticipated.
In his report, Dan Sheridan indicates a deficit of more than $2.7 million and notes, “The 2024 budget monitoring report did predict a year-end deficit. While initial estimates from treasury staff and optimistic values presented at council were based on the best data available at the time, the original estimates fall far short of the actual deficit.
“The final deficit was much higher than projected because some revenue lines did not meet expectations in the second half of the year, along with year-end reconciliations producing higher deficits than were reported in the budget monitoring process.”
Of the 15 streams feeding into the city’s overall budget, seven of them ran up deficits in 2024, in some cases, significant amounts.
The St. Thomas Police Service is looking at a $1.5 million shortfall, environmental services $851,000 and the fire department $740,000.
Two departments did generate significant surpluses: Valleyview Home at $241,000 and Parks, Recreation and Property at $228,000.
Two disturbing contributors to the budget deficit, according to Sheridan, were “Tax write-offs related to Yarmouth Yards and tax incentives rebates for new builds were over budget.”
Included in Sheridan’s report is an analysis from Police Chief Marc Roskamp, who notes, “The budget deficit for 2024 is largely the result of an anomalous surge in public safety pressures that emerged unexpectedly over the course of the year. Driven by a thriving community and therefore an increased complexity in community policing needs.
“The City of St. Thomas experienced an exceptional rise in demand for policing services in 2024. Since 2022, the STPS has experienced a 12 per cent increase in calls for service requiring police attention. The violent crime severity has risen 7.6 per cent, which has been our priority focus for daily deployment strategies.”
Roskamp adds, “These unprecedented demands placed acute operational pressures on the St. Thomas Police Service, particularly with respect to staffing levels, response capacity, and compliance with provincially mandated adequacy and effectiveness standards.
“In order to continue delivering core policing services and maintain public safety, the STPS was required to respond swiftly with critical adjustments to its workforce and operational resources.”
Sheridan presents a cautionary note on the impact on the municipal property tax level moving forward.
“The 2024 budget monitoring report did predict a year-end deficit. While initial estimates from treasury staff and optimistic values presented at council were based on the best data available at the time, the original estimates fall far short of the actual deficit.
“The final deficit was much higher than projected because some revenue lines did not meet expectations in the second half of the year, along with year-end reconciliations producing higher deficits than were reported in the budget monitoring process.
“In a normal year, there are some areas in surplus and some in deficit; they typically offset each other to produce a financial result that is close to budget. Obviously, 2024 had many more deficits than surpluses and staff caution that this trend may continue if levy increases are not adjusted to meet the costs to operate the city.
“It appears that there are a number of areas that require budget increases to maintain service levels, which will put upward pressure on the levy.”
Are the days of a three per cent or less hike in the property tax coming to an end?
And if so, how well equipped are city residents to adjust their budgets to meet a potentially significant levy increase?
Particularly those individuals on a fixed income.
Just wondering whether PowerCo has been offered property tax relief when its EV battery gigafactory is up and running, and for how long?
FOR THE CALENDAR
Next week, the new design concepts for the Elgin County Railway Museum will be unveiled.
According to Wil Zufelt, the museum’s Chief Operating Officer, “Our vision is to honour the historic Michigan Central Railroad Repair Shops by integrating innovative new spaces that enhance the visitor experience without compromising the site’s heritage.
“Imagine interactive exhibits, modern learning spaces, updated works shops, and vibrant community areas that coexist harmoniously with the historic architecture.”
We’ll have all the details next week in this corner.
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