Peterborough will soon have a new mayor and voters are keen to know how they will address key election issues and what type of leader they intend to be.
With incumbent mayor Jeff Leal not running for re-election, the seven certified mayoral candidates are Michael Eamon, Rob Hailman, Brian Lumsden, Jacob Méthot, Neil Morton, incumbent Ashburnham Ward councillor Keith Riel, and Rebecca Schillemat.
Municipal elections across Ontario will take place on Monday, October 26. As residents of a single-tier municipality, Peterborough voters will elect a mayor, two city councillors in each of the city’s five wards, and school board trustees.
Having conducted in-depth interviews with six of the seven mayoral candidates to introduce their campaigns (with Brian Lumsden to be interviewed soon), kawarthaNOW is now asking candidates to go on the record about the most pressing election issues.
The multi-part series will cover four main issues: economic development and downtown Peterborough; housing and homelessness; property taxes, the budget and city services; and leadership and governance.
The questions posed to candidates in each category are listed below.
Economic development and downtown Peterborough
- What should Peterborough’s two highest economic-development priorities be, and what would you do during your first two years to support job creation and local business growth?
- What two actions should the next council take to strengthen downtown Peterborough’s economy, public safety and quality of life?
Housing and homelessness
- Where and how should Peterborough add housing, including in established neighbourhoods, and what can the city realistically do to improve affordability?
- What should the city do first to reduce homelessness, and what provincial or federal support is needed to address the related mental health and addictions crises?
Property taxes, the budget, and city services
- What annual property-tax increase would you aim for, and what specific spending change, efficiency, new revenue or service reduction would help you meet that target?
- Which city service should receive more funding, and which service would you reduce, redesign, or defer? Explain the trade-off.
- What should be Peterborough’s top transportation or infrastructure priority, and how would you pay for it?
Leadership and governance
- What are the two most important actions you would take during your first 100 days as mayor?
- What one change would you make to improve transparency, accountability and public confidence at City Hall?
- Under what circumstances, if any, would you use strong mayor powers? Please provide one example.
The responses of candidates to kawarthaNOW’s questions will from a series of stories to be published over the coming weeks.
In advance of the series, here’s a brief introduction to each of the seven mayoral candidates.
Michael Eamon
Eamon has been the principal of Trent University’s Catharine Parr Traill College for the past 12 years and was previously a federal civil servant, first with Parks Canada and then with Library and Archives Canada.
Having long considered running for public office, Eamon told kawarthaNOW that recent encouragement from community members and the desire to “do more” for the public spurred him into the 2026 race.
“From the sidelines, I see the city floundering,” said Eamon. “I see a dysfunctionality where councillors are not getting along with city staff and city staff are not getting along with council. Instead of taking bold steps forward, council and city staff are looking inwards.”
Rob Hailman
Hailman works as the director of operations for Trent Radio, a musician and broadcaster, and the business manager for Trent University’s student newspaper Arthur.
A longtime community-based advocate, Hailman will be familiar to anyone who has watched city council meetings. He has been a regular delegate over the years, as well as a frequent harsh critic of the existing council.
“Win or lose, whoever becomes the next mayor of Peterborough, there are going to be debates and I’m going to be at them,” said Hailman. “There is going to be news coverage of the election and my voice is going to be in it.”
Brian Lumsden
Lumsden previously ran for mayor in 2022, coming in fourth with 2.78 per cent of the total vote. His campaign included harsh criticism of the city and councils response to the opioid crisis.
On his Facebook page Lumsden said his 2026 campaign will focus on freezing property taxes and controlling spending more closely. He also states that he “remains committed to the truth.”
“Do I think I’m going to win? I’m not delusional,” writes Lumsden.
Stay tuned for kawarthaNOW’s in-depth interview with Lumsden.
Jacob Méthot
Méthot is the youngest candidate in the election, and the only one to run while being a full-time student. He is currently in his fourth year at Trent University studying English literature.
As part of Méthot’s commitment to transparency and accountability, he is running a “no cost, no spend” campaign. He explained that this means he is neither accepting donations nor is he spending on campaign-related expenses.
“Peterborough’s voice needs to be listened to, rather than their pocketbooks,” he said.
Neil Morton
Morton is best known locally as the co-founder of the Ptbocanada.com website and the digital marketing agency StudioPTBO, later selling his ownership in both companies. He is currently the co-founder and vice president of marketing of 3D-printing construction company Cormor Inc. and a business development consultant for former Peterborough MP Maryam Monsef’s company Onward.
According to Morton, the trajectory of his life has led him to a “perfect moment” where he believes he has the leadership, strategic vision, and commitment and passion to help Peterborough reach its full potential.
“For me, a big role I will play, being the chief ambassador not just the mayor — that’s why I look at myself — is attracting business here, attracting tourists here, attracting families here, attracting doctors here, building prosperity for this community.”
Keith Riel
The only mayoral candidate who has held public office, Riel has represented Ashburnham Ward 4 since 2010 following a long career at General Electric where he was also deeply involved in the union, working his way up from shop steward to union local president.
Riel also served two terms as presidents of the Peterborough and District Labour Council.
Riel noted in an interview with kawarthaNOW that he would “probably be re-elected” if he ran again for one of the two Ashburnham Ward seats on council, “but I would be the most unhappy person sitting there for another four years collecting a paycheque and not doing what I feel should be done.”
“So I’m going to run for mayor — win, lose, or draw.”
Rebecca Schillemat
Schillemat is the former executive officer of the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Home Builders’ Association (PKHBA) and is currently a principal consultant with Hardpoint Consulting Services, an IT, risk management, and security solutions business founded by her and her husband Patrick in 2022.
Schillemat noted the continued lack of affordable housing, increasing homelessness, aging city infrastructure, and the loss of local jobs as businesses such as Siemens and Lufthansa InTouch as contributing factors to her bid for mayor.
“I want to make this a city that has a future for my children and for future generations. The mayor has an outlook on the whole city and long-term planning. I think that’s something that has been missing,” Schillemat told kawarthaNOW.
