While there still won’t be lifeguards at Rogers Cove beach in Peterborough’s East City this summer, the water quality at the beach will continue to be tested.

That’s the word from the regional health unit, which has reversed its earlier decision to stop testing this summer after the City of Peterborough eliminated taxpayer-funded lifeguard services at the beach.

“Peterborough Public Health has confirmed that Rogers Cove will continue to be maintained as a public beach by the City of Peterborough; however, it will not be supervised,” the health unit stated in an email to kawarthaNOW. “Sampling of this beach will resume on June 12, 2025.”

In prior years, the City of Peterborough has paid lifeguards to supervise the city’s two public beaches — one at Rogers Cove and the other at Beavermead Park — daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the last week of June to the end of August.

However, during its deliberations on the draft 2025 budget, city council decided to eliminate lifeguard services at Rogers Cove to save $40,000. However, the city will continue to provide lifeguard services at the more popular Beavermead Park beach.

Every summer, Peterborough Public Health has tested the water quality of the city’s two public beaches on a daily basis from Monday to Friday. After the city’s decision to eliminate lifeguard services at Rogers Cove, the health unit announced it would only perform weekday testing at Beavermead Park and not Rogers Cove — a decision that has now been reversed.

With the exception of Rogers Cove, the health unit began testing water quality at public beaches in the city and county of Peterborough and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations on June 2 to ensure the water quality conditions are safe for recreational use during swimming season. The first sample for Rogers Cove will be taken on Thursday (June 12).

The program will continue through to the end of August, with water at the city’s two public beaches samples on weekdays and the water at most public beaches in the county and two First Nations sampled at least once a week, with a few county beaches only sampled once a month. The health unit posts the results on its website.

Results take approximately 24 hours to be analyzed. If levels of bacteria exceed recommended thresholds for recreational water use, the beach will be posted as unsafe and to avoid becoming ill, people should not use the beach for swimming. If a significant risk to human health is identified, such as a toxic spill or the identification of a harmful algae bloom, a beach may be closed to the public.

Stay tuned to kawarthaNOW in June for The Beach Report™, our weekly report of the results of water quality testing at beaches in the greater Kawarthas region, including the city and county of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County, Northumberland County, and Hastings County.

As Peterborough Mayor Jeal Leal’s first use of his provincially legislated strong mayor powers inches closer to a legal challenge, the director of the group bringing that action is appealing to the public for help with legal costs.

A GoFundMe campaign launched by Sarah McNeilly, the sole director of Northcrest Neighbours for Fair Process (NNFP) Ltd., is appealing for $10,000 in donations by June 19. That follows the filing of a motion by the city demanding that she post $10,000 in security for court costs.

“If I don’t raise the funds in time, the case could be dismissed — before a single legal question is heard,” writes McNeilly on the GoFundMe page.

As of Thursday morning (June 12), about 24 hours after McNeilly’s appeal went live — under the title “I challenged Peterborough’s mayor. Now he’s coming after me” — $7,825 had already been pledged by 85 people.

To understand how things got to this point, making the last few weeks “crazy, emotional, terrifying and just really difficult” for McNeilly, some background is required.

Back on February 3, Mayor Leal issued a statement that he would, in deference to a request from Brock Mission, use his strong mayor powers to expedite its development of a six-storey, 52-unit transitional housing building at 783 Chemong Road adjacent to Cameron House, a women’s shelter also operated by Brock Mission.

In doing so, the city’s zoning by-law would be amended and the project would be exempted from existing site plan requirements — a process that ensures development projects comply with municipal policies and minimize negative impacts on the environment and surrounding community.

Under the strong mayor powers of the Municipal Act provided by the provincial government in 2023 to 45 municipalities, including Peterborough, heads of council can propose municipal by-laws under provincial legislation — including the Municipal Act and the Planning Act — if they believe the proposed by-laws could potentially advance the provincial priority of housing.

At the time, Mayor Leal justified his use of strong mayor powers by citing Peterborough’s “critical need for housing,” adding he will do “whatever is within my authority as mayor” to move housing projects forward.

On February 24, Mayor Leal fulfilled his vow during a city council meeting. While seven councillors voted against his motion, three — Gary Baldwin, Kevin Duguay, and Lesley Parnell — supported it. The motion passed just the same, as just one third of council support is required for a strong mayor powers motion to pass.

McNeilly, who lives near the development site, spoke at that council meeting, arguing NNFP’s position that the development doesn’t qualify as “housing” under the rules governing the use of strong mayor powers.

Further, the group argued — and still does — that the building “more closely resembles an institutional facility (in its planned use), therefore falling beyond the scope of strong mayor powers conferred by the Municipal Act.”

Mayor Leal’s use of strong mayor powers in this case forms the basis for NNFP’s legal challenge. McNeilly says any meaningful consultation with neighbours of the project site and the women sheltering at adjacent Cameron House was eliminated from the get-go.

“Allowing major decisions (to be made) with minority council support sets a concerning precedent for governance by exception rather than democratic consensus,” said McNeilly in an April interview with kawarthaNOW, arguing the development should have been subject to entrenched planning oversight and procedures, and then gone before council for approval, much the same as any other development.

And so here we are, with NNFP, represented by McNeilly, asking the Ontario Superior Court to rule whether Mayor Leal’s use of his strong mayor powers is legal in this case.

Pretty straightforward, but then the city tossed a curveball into the mix. On May 27, city solicitor Scott Seabrooke filed a notice of motion for security of costs from NNFP in the amount of $10,000 — “or such amount as this this (sic) Honourable Court may deem just,” according to the motion.

“The Applicant is a shell corporation without operations and it does not have any assets in Ontario or elsewhere to pay the costs of the Respondent,” the motion states. “The Applicant was incorporated for the purpose of insulating Sarah McNeilly from being exposed to a cost award in her personal capacity and thus there is good reason to believe that the Applicant will try to avoid paying any order for costs.”

In addition, the city’s motion claims that NNFP’s legal challenge “was brought for an ulterior motive, namely Sarah McNeilly’s personal opposition” to the section of the Municipal Act that defines strong mayor powers “which she views as undemocratic.”

As an alternative to $10,000 in security costs, the city is requesting an order “piercing the corporate veil” — a legal concept where a court disregards the separate legal entity of a corporation and holds its shareholders, directors, or officers personally liable for the corporation’s actions.

McNeilly, who was upset back in February and still is, is now seeing red.

“The city is pre-emptively saying they will ‘pierce the corporate veil,’ going through the incorporated entity Northcrest Neighbours for Fair Process Ltd. and going for Miss Sarah McNeilly personally,” she says.

“What this means, and it’s another mechanism or tactic if you will, is in order for the application to be heard, this motion has to be decided first. So this has really delayed things, or has the potential to.”

Not helping matters, says McNeilly, was the recent removal of trees at the proposed development site.

“About a week after the city motion was filed, my phone starts exploding, and I’m getting all these email messages from all my neighbours just totally freaking out because every tree on the property was being clear cut,” she says, adding that with its legal challenge pending, NNFP “was under the impression” that such action “is technically unlawful until the matter is settled.”

The first court session dealing with the matter was held on Tuesday (June 10) via Zoom, when McNeilly says the city introduced its motion for security of costs. In response, NNFP’s lawyer brought a request for an injunction on the development.

“The injunction would be for the city not to issue permits,” explains McNeilly.

“It has nothing to do with Brock Mission. They can get permits under the old (existing) by-law and zoning, just not for this one until it’s figured out. The city solicitor responded that would take an ‘awful lot of time’ and that hearing the injunction and the city’s motion first would push back hearing the original application to the next available date in February 2026. Speaking to the rationale of the injunction, our lawyer said that it’s very clear that if we wait until February (2026), the building will be built.”

“You look at all these things combined and it’s hard not to see the tactic. Delay it. Bleed them out. Threaten them financially. They’ll back down. They’ll go away.”

PDF: City of Peterborough’s Notice of Motion – Security for Costs
City of Peterborough's Notice of Motion - Security for Costs

At that first court session, the judge, notes McNeilly, didn’t entertain any delay in the matter, setting a date of June 19 for triage court, which is used to address the scheduling of civil proceedings, particularly for long motions or applications.

“At that time, we’ll be given a much more immediate date to settle first the motion for security of costs so we can then have our application heard. Also, the judge is allowing for our lawyer to submit his request for injunction by letter to whichever judge will overseeing our case.”

That’s where things stand now as it appears the GoFundMe appeal will reach its goal — a show of community support that McNeilly is most heartened by, saying “It’s exactly the boost I needed as the leader of this fight, and it’s what my neighbours needed.”

“Times are tough for everyone right now. I’m really beginning to feel the pressure (but) I don’t want to let my neighbours down. Some of them have made two, three donations (for legal costs). I just can’t keep going to them, asking for money. Every time the city files a new thing, that costs us money for our lawyer to deal with that.”

As McNeilly has made clear since day one, NNFP isn’t taking on Brock Mission or arguing against the need for transitional housing. In fact, she earlier credited Mayor Leal for having “really good intentions” when he exercised his strong mayor powers to expedite the development, but added “He perhaps didn’t have all the information he needed to make a decision like that.”

“It doesn’t matter what it is. This could be a casino. It could be an arena. It could be anything, and I would be against it because of the way it was pushed through. We can’t give up the bedrocks of democracy: due process, public consultation, majority rule. We can’t just freely hand them over because we think there’s an emergency that justifies it.”

Well aware she’s a player in a precedent-setting legal case being watched closely by all the other municipalities whose top elected officials have been granted strong mayor powers, McNeilly feels a responsibility to get this right on the way to her sought outcome of a court-imposed injunction that will ultimately see the proposed development go before council for debate and a vote outside of strong mayor powers.

As for her perception that the city is going after her personally in a bid to see NNFP’s court challenge dropped, her answer is best summed up in three words: bring it on.

“I’m a fighter,” McNeilly affirms. “I’ve never backed down from a bully and I’m not about to start. And it really does put things into perspective. I’ve beaten cancer twice. I’m not afraid of this mayor.”

Stay with kawarthaNOW for updates to this story as they develop.

This story has been updated to modify a quote from Sarah McNeilly, about the city solicitor’s response during the first court session, for accuracy, with the court date also corrected.

From helping bring to life “the dream of a place to farm closer for aspiring farmers,” to creating an inclusive community for newcomers to Peterborough, these are two ways $100,000 is going to be used locally courtesy of grants recently awarded to 10 organizations.

On Tuesday (June 10), Community Futures Peterborough (CFP) announced the recipients of the 2025 Community Advancement Program (CAP), a non-repayable funding program that supports projects that foster economic stability, investment, and employment across the city of Peterborough and Peterborough County.

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, CFP is providing $100,000 to 10 organizations in the region. According to a media release, the “record-breaking investment” underscores the non-profit organization’s “long-standing dedication to fostering resilient, inclusive, and sustainable communities throughout the region.”

CFP executive director Devon Girard told kawarthaNOW there were more than 40 applications on the table for consideration.

“An external committee of board directors scored the applications against the criteria laid out in the application process and made the decision,” Girard said.

The 2025 CAP recipients are Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Foundation, Kawartha Manufacturers Association, Junior Achievement Northern and Eastern Ontario, Hiawatha First Nation, Peterborough County, 4th Line Theatre, Curve Lake First Nation, Farms at Work, New Canadians Centre, and ReFrame Film Festival.

“These projects reflect the spirit and mission we had in mind for the Community Advancement Program — to empower local organizations that are creating tangible, positive impacts on the economic landscape of our communities,” Girard said in a statement. “From arts and culture to agriculture, education, and equity, these initiatives are helping shape a vibrant future for both the city of Peterborough and Peterborough County.”

First launched in 2024 and funded in partnership with the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), CAP supports strategic projects that align with CFP’s vision for sustainable economic development and regional resilience. The program is designed to create community economic stability, growth, and job creation, develop and diversify competitive rural economies, and foster economically sustainable communities.

“The projects supported through the Community Advancement Program are a testament to the innovation, ambition, and local leadership driving economic growth in Peterborough and the surrounding region,” said Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, in the release.

“Through FedDev Ontario, our government is proud to support the Community Futures Program and invest in the people and organizations creating real momentum. We are empowering local entrepreneurs, generating good jobs, and building a stronger, more resilient economy right here at home during these times of global economic uncertainty.”

Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Foundation will be using the CAP grant to support a bursary initiative designed to uplift children who were involved with children’s aid societies in achieving their post-secondary education goals.

“Together, we are having a positive impact on the lives of youth who are connected to the Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Aid Society and pursuing their post-secondary education goals,” said executive director Carrie Truman. “It is amazing the hurdles these youth have overcome, and so exciting that they are focused on their future by working towards achieving their education goals.”

Meanwhile, Farms at Work will be using its CAP grant to hire a project manager to launch and support their community learning farm.

The initiative aims to provide hands-on, experiential education to aspiring entrepreneurs in agriculture through workshops and guided tours of established farms.

“These funds, along with in-kind support from the Peterborough County economic development team and farm owner Jason McIntosh, bring the dream of a place to farm closer for aspiring farmers and will benefit the community for many years to come,” said Farms at Work operations manager Heather Thomas.

The New Canadians Centre will use the CAP grant to advance the goals of its workplace inclusion charter, which includes fostering a welcoming and inclusive community, supporting employee attraction and retention, boosting productivity and innovation, and enhancing overall employee well-being.

“Immigration is a key component of the future of our labour force and working age population,” said Andy Cragg, executive director of NCC. “The workplace inclusion charter project will help participating local businesses attract and retain immigrant talent while fostering positive workplace experiences for newcomers.”

For more information about Community Futures Peterborough’s Community Advancement Program, visit communityfuturespeterborough.ca.

The City of Peterborough is one of the communities hosting evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario.

The remote Oji-Cree community, which is located near the Manitoba border around 370 kilometres north of Kenora, is being threatened by the fire known as Red Lake 12, which is out of control and has grown to be more than 1,500 square kilometres in size.

An evacuation of the community of around 3,000 residents was ordered on Saturday (June 7). The Canadian Armed Forces has been assisting in the evacuation of Sandy Lake, which is only accessible by air, by flying residents out of the community in CC-130 Hercules aircraft to Thunder Bay.

Around 300 Sandy Lake community members will be arriving in Peterborough. A media release from the City of Peterborough on Wednesday (June 11) states that around 200 evacuees arrived Tuesday evening, with additional evacuees arriving in the coming days.

On Sunday, the federal government approved a request from the Ontario government for federal assistance to support the evacuation efforts. According to a statement on Monday from Ontario’s emergency preparedness and response minister Jill Dunlop, all evacuees will be provided comprehensive wraparound services, including health care, education supports, and social services.

“Our government will continue to work in coordination with the federal government, Indigenous leadership, and the Canadian Armed Forces to ensure safe evacuations for the residents of Sandy Lake First Nation,” Dunlop said.

Dunlop said most of the evacuees are being hosted in Kapuskasing, Mississauga, Toronto, Niagara, and Cornwall — and now Peterborough as well.

“When Peterborough was asked if it would be a host community for evacuees from areas that are threatened by the wildfires that are raging, there was no hesitation in opening the doors to our community,” Mayor Jeff Leaf said.

“Our community is quickly mobilizing to support those in need who are being forced to leave their homes because of the wildfires. Thank you to the numerous community agencies that are showing compassion and commitment to the well-being of the evacuees.”

The city says The Loomex Group is the official host agency contracted by the provincial government to coordinate the hosting of the evacuees. As well as operating the Peterborough Airport, The Loomex Group also provides emergency management services.

“The City of Peterborough’s Emergency Management Division will work with Loomex to coordinate and facilitate support services with community partner agencies,” the media release states.

The release adds that the city and Loomex are not currently accepting donations or seeking volunteer assistance at this time.

However, Indigenous community member Kelli Marshall says donations are needed and has put out a call on Facebook for towels, linens, and blankets as well as baby formula, diapers, and clothes. In a comment on Marshall’s post, Ashley Lamothe says evacuees have requested water bottles, socks, shorts, T-shirts of all sizes, sandals, and colouring books and materials.

Marshall, who says the evacuees are being hosted at Trent University, is asking that donations be dropped off at The Gathering Space at Gzowski College at 2510 Pioneer Road or at the Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre at 580 Cameron Street.

On its Facebook page, Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre says it will accept diapers and pull-ups, baby formula and bottles, women’s feminine pads/tampons, both women and men’s disposable razors, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, loofah, and men’s and women’s deodorant.

Those wishing to make a financial donation can do so online at canadahelps.org/en/charities/nogojiwanong-friendship-centre/ (add a message that the donation is for Sandy Lake First Nation) or by dropping off cash or a cheque at the centre (ask reception to write SLFN on the receipt).

According to a statement from Trent University provided to kawarthaNOW on Thursday (June 12), donations are no longer being collected at Gzowski College.

“Trent is working closely with the City and The Loomex Group to support evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation,” the statement reads. “At this time, donations and volunteer help aren’t needed and donations are no longer being collected at the First Peoples House of Learning. Loomex is coordinating all supports, and all inquiries can be directed to The Group.”

To contact The Loomex Group, email info@loomex.ca.

This story has been updated with a statement from Trent University.

The City of Peterborough is hosting both an in-person and virtual healing circle on Tuesday (June 17) for community members who have been affected by recent vandalism to the Nogojiwanong Project panels in Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough.

Located next to the Trans Canada Trail near the south end of Water Street, the Nogojiwanong Project is a collaboration undertaken in the spirit of kinship between local First Nations, Indigenous peoples, and the City of Peterborough in recognition of the 200th anniversary of Rice Lake Treaty No. 20 — the agreement between the Michi Saagiig peoples and the British Crown that made it possible for Europeans to settle in this region — and the presence of the Williams Treaties First Nations in the region.

Installed in 2019, the three interpretive panels that are part of the Nogojiwanong Project highlight the evolution of local treaties and inherent rights of Indigenous peoples. In 2022, a public artwork called “Gathering” by Anishinaabe sculptor Michael Belmore — a grouping of glacial erratic boulders embellished with the Treaty 20 Clan Dodems — was installed near the interpretive panels.

Last Tuesday (June 3), the City of Peterborough received reports that the interpretive panels had been defaced with graffiti that included racist remarks. When city staff visited the site the following morning, they found that community members had taken the initiative to remove the graffiti themselves.

“This act of disrespect, particularly during National Indigenous History Month, is a painful reminder of the work still needed to advance truth, understanding, and reconciliation in our community,” Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal said in a statement issued the following day. “These panels are more than signs, they are a reflection of the stories, rights, and resilience of Indigenous Peoples, and a vital part of how we share and learn from the land we call Nogojiwanong.”

“Let us use this moment as a call to action, to learn more, to speak out against hate, and to stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities not only this month, but always,” the mayor added.

Last Thursday, Peterborough MP Emma Harrison also issued a statement about the vandalism, calling it “both disappointing and disheartening.”

“As June is National Indigenous History Month, and if you haven’t already, I encourage you to visit the site and engage with this important work,” she said. “My sincere thanks go out to the community members who responded quickly to help restore the panels.”

“We are all treaty people, and standing together in moments like this reinforces our shared responsibility to honour and respect that truth.”

Last Friday, the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians also issued a release about the “outrageous motion of a hate crime,” which included a statement from Chief Laurie Carr of Hiawatha First Nation.

“This is malicious, it is hard to witness that people out there are willingly doing this, and for what?” Chief Carr said.

“It makes no sense except to appease their own hateful thought processes. Regardless of their actions, it will not deter us, as we are a vibrant, proud, independent healthy people. We will not allow this to unsettle us and we will make sure actions will be taken.”

To support those who have been affected by the vandalism, the City of Peterborough is hosting two healing circles on Tuesday, June 17. A healing circle is a traditional Indigenous practice where participants sit in a circle to share stories, express emotions, and support one another in a respectful, inclusive, and spiritually grounded space for healing and reconciliation.

A virtual healing circle will be held first, from 10 a.m. to noon, on Microsoft Teams.

“This gathering is especially intended to support Indigenous community members and allies, offering an opportunity to come together, listen, and contribute to the healing process,” reads a media release from the city, which notes virtual healing circle will be a safe and supportive space.

Space is limited for the virtual healing circle and registration closes at noon on Monday, June 16. Those who register at form.peterborough.ca/Virtual-Healing-Circle-Registration will receive a link to attend the meeting.

Following the virtual healing circle, an in-person healing circle will be held at the Nogojiwanong Project location in Millennium Park from 2 to 4 p.m. Participants are asked to bring their own lawn chair, if desired.

Along with the healing circles, the city has provided a list of resources for people who may need support as a result of the vandalism.

• Provided by Aboriginal Alert – Canada’s Indigenous Awareness Network, Talk 4 Healing is a culturally grounded, fully confidential help line for Indigenous women available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, provided by Aboriginal Alert at 1-855-554-HEAL (4325). For more information, visit www.aboriginalalert.ca/service-providers/talk-4-healing.
• The Canadian Mental Health Association offers a provincial mental health supports directory at ontario.cmha.ca/provincial-mental-health-supports.
• The Kids Help Phone is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people ages five to 29 who want confidential and anonymous care from trained responders. Call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free), text CONNECT to 686868, or visit kidshelpphone.ca for online chat support or to access online resources for children and youth.
• The Hope for Wellness Helplin is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples seeking emotional support, crisis intervention, or referrals to community-based services. Call 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free) or visit www.hopeforwellness.ca to chat online. Support is available in English and French and, by request, in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut.