Peterborough city councillors have voted to support a motion to continue city child care subsidies for eligible parents participating in a lawful strike or lockout, on the same day the strike by workers of Community Living Trent Highlands that prompted the motion ended.

During a general committee meeting on Tuesday (August 4), councillors voted 8-2 in favour of a motion from councillor Joy Lachica directing city staff to expedite a review of 14-year-old wording in an internal social services policy document that generally makes parents involved in a labour disruption ineligible for a child care fee subsidy.

The motion also directs staff to ensure no parent receiving a subsidy when a lawful strike or lockout begins loses it during the labour disruption, with staff to report back to council by the end of September.

Strike put child care subsidy policy in the spotlight

The issue came to council’s attention during the strike by more than 300 full-time and part-time developmental service workers represented by Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 358.

The workers, who are employed by Community Living Trent Highlands serving Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton County, began striking on May 22.

On July 30, Local 358 president Jessica Bushey wrote on Facebook that the city’s child care subsidy policy stated people participating in a legal strike or labour disruption did not qualify for a subsidy.

Bushey said the city reversed the decision in her case after she challenged it, but argued access to the subsidy should not depend on whether an affected parent speaks up.

“Policies like this create unnecessary barriers for workers who are legally exercising their rights,” she wrote. “I’m fighting for the policy to change. Advocacy doesn’t end when your own problem is solved.”

Peterborough and District Labour Council president Marcia Steeves shared Bushey’s post on Facebook, tagging members of city council.

Councillor Lachica subsequently discussed the policy with acting commissioner of community services Rob McAuley before bringing her motion to general committee.

Councillor Lachica calls 2012 city policy outdated and inequitable

During Tuesday’s meeting, councillor Lachica said the policy is contained in an internal social services operational practices document dating back to 2012.

She explained that, under section 4.9 of the document, a parent participating in a labour disruption, strike, or work-to-rule action will typically not qualify for a fee subsidy because the activity is not included under the city’s eligible hours of care policy. The parent would be given two weeks’ notice before losing the subsidy.

The policy also states that, when a labour dispute exceeds three months, the city will review the number of affected parents and the availability of fee subsidies to determine whether assistance can continue.

Describing the language as outdated and inequitable, councillor Lachica said it effectively penalizes workers for exercising their legal right to strike.

“A strike is a very taxing thing for those workers who are in a position of not having the same amount of income that they normally would have,” she said.

Councillor Lachica noted many of the striking Community Living Trent Highlands employees are women and single parents for whom a child care subsidy is “a lifeline.”

“This is a motion that is supportive of women,” she said. “We want to be non-discriminatory, and we want to be the city that in goodwill provides a subsidy on a consistent basis without the fear, without the anxiety, that that subsidy would be removed because of a strike.”

City staff have already begun review of policy

In response to a question, McAuley told council that city staff became aware of the concern the previous week and had already begun reviewing the policy.

“We’ve already addressed the two situations that have arisen out of this, and they are receiving their fee subsidy,” he said, adding staff were already on track to complete the review within the timeline proposed in councillor Lachica’s motion.

Councillor Keith Riel said he would support the motion, noting he had recently visited the Community Living Trent Highlands picket line on Aylmer Street.

“Most of them are women,” Riel said of the striking workers. “They are the sole breadwinner, but a lot of them are single mothers.”

Councillor Kevin Duguay said he supported the intent of the motion, but considered it redundant because staff had already committed publicly to reviewing the policy and reporting back by the end of September.

Councillor Lachica responded that the motion was an opportunity for council to demonstrate its political support for striking workers and to acknowledge the policy needed to change.

“There are times when a council needs to be responsive to an inequity when it’s pointed out and when it affects a swath of people in our community,” she said.

After some further debate on the motion, council voted on it. Because councillor Lachica introduced her motion under “other business,” it required the support of two-thirds of councillors present to pass.

The motion carried 8-2, with only Mayor Jeff Leal and councillor Duguay voting against it. While councillor Matt Crowley was absent from the meeting and did not vote, he had earlier posted on Facebook that he supported revising the city’s policy.

Items endorsed by general committee on August 4 will be considered by council for final approval the following Monday.

Peterborough and District Labour Council welcomed motion

Before councillor Lachica presented her motion to council, Steeves told kawarthaNOW the labour council welcomed the motion and anticipated council’s quick response to the concern.

“Workers should not lose access to essential child care supports simply because they are exercising their legal right to participate in a lawful strike,” Steeves said. “We encourage council to remove this barrier and ensure municipal policies respect workers’ rights while supporting families during times of labour disputes.”

Steeves said the situation also challenged the misconception that all unionized employees earn high incomes, noting many developmental service workers are single-income parents in lower-paying jobs and do not earn a living wage.

On Wednesday, Steeves acknowledged the passing of councillor Lachica’s motion.

“Thank you to those listened, stepped up, dug in and quickly made changes needed for our community at the city’s general committee last night,” she wrote on Facebook.

Coincidentally, Community Living Trent Highlands and OPSEU Local 358 jointly announced on Tuesday they had reached an agreement ending the strike after almost 11 weeks.

“The path forward is one of reconciliation and renewed strength,” the joint statement said. “As we return to full service delivery, we do so with appreciation for a community that continues to stand with us.”

The original version of this story has been updated with the August 10 city council meeting vote.

At its first meeting since June 29, Peterborough city council has endorsed a report from city staff providing an update on the city’s economic development activities for the first half of 2026, with the report drawing both praise and scrutiny from councillors.

Meeting as general committee on Tuesday evening (August 4), councillors considered the 11-page report from Blair Nelson, the city’s commissioner of infrastructure, planning and growth management.

The report is the first public update to council on the city’s economic development activities since the City of Peterborough and Peterborough County each assumed responsibility for economic development and tourism in January 2025, after ending their multi-year tri-party agreement with Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED), a non-profit organization that had been providing economic development and tourism services on behalf of the city and county for 25 years.

City builds its economic development framework

The report covers the city’s economic development activities from January to June 2026, which the report describes as “a period of deliberate momentum” for economic development in the city, with a “key milestone” being full staffing of the city’s economic development team, including hiring a manager of economic development in January and two economic development officers in June.

According to the report, the team has also been working across city departments “to establish an economic development lens throughout the organization,” with economic development “intended to function as a connective thread across the organization, bringing an investment and growth perspective to decisions across municipal operations.”

The city has secured around $92,000 in provincial and federal funding to support its first city-led economic development strategic plan and its foreign direct investment work. The strategic plan, which will guide investment attraction, business support, and sector development through 2031, is being prepared by an external consultant following baseline research and consultations with businesses, residents, Indigenous partners, institutions, community organizations, council, and city staff. It is expected to be presented to council later in 2026.

The report says that business retention and expansion is a “foundational priority” for economic development, with staff engaging with businesses in the manufacturing, aerospace, defence, nuclear, hospitality, retail, and service sectors. This included assisting manufacturers considering expansions, connecting major employers with government funding and workforce programs, supporting early discussions about new hospitality development, and helping retail and service businesses with permitting, signage, patio licensing, and funding opportunities. A formal business retention and expansion program is expected to launch during the second half of the year.

The city also launched the Peterborough Aerospace & Defence Cluster in June, bringing together 60 businesses, post-secondary institutions, and public-sector funding partners to address workforce development, supply-chain connections, and industry promotion. Other sector development activities included attending the CANSEC defence trade show in Ottawa in May, continuing work with nuclear-sector organizations (including exploring opportunities related to the medical-isotope supply chain), and supporting an increasing number of inquiries from film productions considering Peterborough as a location. The city is developing a standardized film permitting process intended to make it easier for productions to film locally.

According to the report, the city has active but confidential investment files involving industrial, commercial, hospitality, and film projects. Its foreign investment efforts included trade missions to Brazil in March and Japan and South Korea with Global Affairs Canada in June, with staff meeting companies, investment agencies, trade commissioners, and aerospace and advanced manufacturing organizations. However, the report cautions that foreign investment work typically unfolds over several years and characterizes the 2025 and 2026 activity as relationship-building that could produce investments in subsequent years.

The report frames physician recruitment as part of economic development, in that it attracts highly skilled professionals to Peterborough, supporting the growth of local medical practices and creating skilled employment opportunities within the healthcare sector. Three newly recruited doctors assumed patients from five retiring physicians, preserving care for more than 6,500 people, while the city supported a physician’s family succession plan for another 1,100 patients. The report states that new and expanded practices could create capacity for up to 10,000 patients. Following a city-supported exemption from provincial eligibility requirements, three Practice Ready Ontario physicians were also offered local positions that could provide care for more than 3,500 additional patients.

The report identifies the shortage of development-ready industrial land and access to skilled workers as continuing obstacles to growth. Priorities for the second half of 2026 include completing the economic development strategic plan, launching formal business retention and industrial concierge programs, mapping the aerospace and defence supply chain, following up on international investment leads, advancing the remediation of strategic industrial properties, and developing the film permitting framework.

Councillor Riel questions staffing and reporting gap

Commenting on the report at Tuesday’s general committee meeting, councillor Keith Riel asked commissioner Nelson how the four staff on the city’s economic development team — director Darryl Julott hired in January 2025 and the three staff hired in 2026 — would be able to carry out the economic development and tourism work previously conducted by the 16 staff who worked for PKED.

Nelson noted that the tourism component is being carried out by the city’s corporate services and community services divisions, and that the city’s existing staff levels are sufficient to carry out economic development work at present.

“As the demand and the requirements grow, then obviously there could be the possibility of additional staff being requested, but at this point obviously that whole system is still growing,” Nelson said. “We’re working towards ensuring that the staff that we have hired remain efficient and continue to do the work that they’re assigned to do, and build out that framework as we grow.”

Calling city council the “board of directors” for economic development, councillor Riel raised a concern about a lack of reporting to council to date.

“This is the first time since we hired a director, outside of a couple of emails, that we’ve had a report on economic development,” Riel said. “We held the former (PKED) executive director’s feet to the fire to come here every quarter and make a report on economic development.”

While councillor Joy Lachica recognized the work of city staff, Julott in particular, she said it would have been “nice to see” a report on what happened in 2025 and expressed concern that she was not aware of the Peterborough Aerospace & Defence Cluster until after it was publicly announced. She asked commissioner Nelson whether city CAO Jasbir Raina or Mayor Leal directed the priorities for city staff to focus on foreign direct investment and the aerospace cluster.

CAO Raina said that neither he nor the mayor provided direction to city staff, and asked director Julott to answer the question. Julott said the cluster initiative was presented to him by The Loomex Group, which operates the city-owned Peterborough Regional Airport.

“I worked with Kyle Bruce as our airport manager, because obviously he works with our businesses at the airport,” Julott said. “We invited our existing businesses in our aerospace and defense supply chain and brought them together for an event to learn more about the state of federal and provincial funding that they might be able to access, as well as opportunities to connect and collaborate on local supply chain to see about growth.”

Councillor Bierk questions trade mission costs and value

Councillor Alex Bierk, who participated in the meeting virtually, asked about the cost for city staff to participate in the trips related to foreign direct investment and trade missions, specifically to Brazil, Tokyo and Seoul, and the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK.

Julott said the city’s cost of the trade mission to Brazil with the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce was $1,479 and the total cost of the Global Affairs Canada trade mission to Japan and Korea was $2,644. He added that the cost of the trip to Farnborough is still being confirmed and he will report back “once we have all the final receipts.”

Councillor Bierk noted that the consultant working on the city’s economic development strategic plan has said that municipalities are moving away from the traditional economic development approach to secure an anchor industry or employer. He asked Julott whether he believes these types of trips will continue in the future and whether they are valuable in attracting investment.

Julott said all the trips were “highly targeted and organized,” noting that the Brazil trip followed a period of relationship building. He added that foreign direct investment is a multi-year process.

“A lot of investors that you’ll talk to operate on a two-to-five year window, so relationships are key, time is key … just ensuring Peterborough is relevant is key — making sure that we’re on the map for when some of these businesses from this countries are considering decisions,” Julott added. “We have a lot of active follow-up, a number of files from both trips that we’re still actively engaged with. It’s everything from specific businesses to the local trade commissioners in those markets.”

Councillor Bierk said there are local businesses “that are feeling very unheard and very left out” of the city’s planning and econonmic support.

“My hope with the new (economic) strategic plan is that we can maybe move away from these big pink cloud, silver bullet saviours to the city and sort of move towards looking at the people that are driving our economy and thinking how we can best serve them,” he said. “I know that there are always opportunities to come, but I think the public is really hungry for us to get some results, and that’s definitely the feedback that I’m hearing.”

For his part, Mayor Jeff Leal explained that he had no involvement with organizing that aerospace and defence cluster event, but was invited to provide opening remarks and also to welcome a deputy minister from the Ontario government who attended. He said the defence sector is an “enormous opportunity” for manufacturers, and noted that Fairbanks Morse Defense has finalized its acquisition of the Rolls-Royce Naval Handling facility in Peterborough, which will become the company’s Canadian headquarters.

After citing recent tourism statistics from Peterborough’s visitor centre (2,900 visitors in 25 days, 67 per cent of which were from across Ontario and 18 per cent from other countries, with U.S. visits up 18 per cent), the mayor mentioned that both Northern Skyline Ventures and Circul-Air Corp are considering investment in Peterborough. He also lauded Peterborough’s success at physician recruitment.

“There’s a lot to be bullish about,” Leal said.

Councillor Keven Duguay said the city has seen “enormous gains” in sports tourism. He noted that, while PKED staff had to be invited to council meetings, director Julott is always available at every council meeting.

“We took on the responsibility and had to build our own toolbox,” he said. “We used what was available to us, but we are building our own. I’m satisfied that what’s been undertaken today and I’m satisfied (what) the report has produced is helpful (and) informative.”

After councillor Don Vassiliadis spoke in support of the “direction we’re going,” councillor Riel once again raised concerns about the lack of reporting.

“We waited almost two years for a report,” Riel said. “We are the board of directors of economic development for the City of Peterborough … I would think there would be quarterly reports to us about economic development, one of the most important things in the City of Peterborough to move this city forward with an eroding tax base.”

“I learned more about economic development from the mayor, when he just spoke here. Why am I getting it from the mayor as opposed to the director of economic development?”

Riel noted that council could go into closed session for any confidential economic development matters.

Lack of industrial land cited as major impediment to growth

Pointing out recent announcements by two major employers announcing they are leaving Peterborough, councillor Gary Baldwin asked Julott about the process of reaching out to these businesses.

Julott said that the city tries to identify business that are contemplating leaving before they make announcements. In the case of Woodward Inc., which announced in July it would be relocating production from Peterborough to Poland, Julott said the city reached out with 12 hours and learned that staff at the Peterborough location were also surprised by the announcement.

“If it was a surprise to the staff, then it absolutely was not something we could have surfaced in our regular meetings,” he said, before describing the process for helping employees, noting that some have already been hired by other companies.

In response to another question from councillor Baldwin about the major impediment to bringing in jobs, Julott pointed to the lack of industrial land.

“We’re trying to be as creative as possible,” he said, providing an example of a business looking to expand that is “boxed in,” but there’s a business directly behind them with a large amount of greenspace they are not using. “We’re working together — economic development, planning, and other departments — to try and see if there’s a bit of a creative solution we can kind of MacGyver there.”

Julott gave another example of a piece of industrial land that “We’re currently finalizing the remediation of, that’s going to free up about six acres of industrial land that will go on the market later this summer.”

Councillors then voted unanimously, 10-0, to receive the report. Councillor Matt Crowley was absent from the meeting.

Items endorsed by general committee on August 4 will be considered by council for final approval the following Monday. Council meetings are streamed live at www.peterborough.ca.

Police have upgraded a second-degree murder charge against a 45-year-old Peterborough woman to first-degree murder in connection with the sudden death of her 74-year-old mother in June.

Just before 5 p.m. on June 5, police were called to the area of the London Street footbridge on the east side of the Otonabee River about a woman in the water.

After arriving at the scene, officers pulled the woman out of the water and attempted life-saving measures. The woman was taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre where she was pronounced dead.

Although police did not consider the death suspicious at the time, all sudden deaths are reviewed by the Major Crime Unit.

After further investigation and follow-up, police arrested 45-year-old Sarah-Jayne Maier on June 12 and charged her with second-degree murder in connection to the death of her mother, 74-year-old Susan Maier of Peterborough.

After further investigation, police have re-arrested Maier and charged her with first-degree murder.

The accused woman will appear in court on Tuesday (August 4).

Under Canada’s criminal code, first-degree murder involves a killing that is both deliberate and planned in advance, while second-degree murder involves a deliberate killing without advance planning.

First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

When you or a loved one face a healthcare emergency, it’s comforting to know that the Emergency Department team at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) has already been trained to respond to that emergency — not only through their own individual professional medical training, but as a team working step-by-step together.

In fact, PRHC’s Emergency Department (ED) staff participate in monthly simulation training to practise responding as a team to both common and rare emergencies before they happen, and having access to state-of-the-art simulation mannequins will enhance that training even more.

That’s why the PRHC Foundation has made it a priority to acquire a new, cutting-edge simulation mannequin as part of the $70 million Campaign for PRHC.

“This was a recent request that will innovate PRHC’s ED training in support of world-class patient care,” says PRHC Foundation President and CEO Lesley Heighway. “It’s donors who make it possible for the Foundation to respond to the hospital’s urgent equipment and technology needs as they arise across all areas of care.”

Step-by-step training for healthcare emergencies before they happen

“When every second counts when we need emergency care, we’re not thinking about all the preparation that PRHC’s hardworking Emergency Department team has done behind the scenes to be ready, but that preparation, beyond regular medical training, is vital to us receiving lifesaving emergency care,” Heighway adds.

“Essential to that preparation are advanced simulation tools that help our skilled doctors, nurses, and staff practise medical procedures, processes, and teamwork in the most realistic ways possible. A state-of-the-art simulation mannequin that can respond just like a human in a training scenario means better teamwork and care, faster, and with less risk of complication for the real-life patients with similar symptoms or injuries.”

As a Level III Trauma Centre, PRHC’s busy Emergency Department cares for some of the region’s most critically injured patients. During simulation training, doctors, residents, medical students, nurses, nursing students, the respiratory therapy team and partners like Emergency Medical Services (EMS) come together to practise these emergency situations using mannequins that are designed to mimic a real patient.

A more realistic patient for more realistic training

However, PRHC’s existing simulation mannequins are more than 10 years old, and today’s technology is far more advanced. The latest mannequins are far more realistic, mimicking basic functions like breathing, blinking, and talking all while displaying changing vital signs.

According to PRHC Emergency Department Clinical Nurse Educator, Emily Philips, who leads simulation training for the Emergency Department alongside PRHC Emergency Department Physician Dr. Sarah Foohey, this technology will be transformative for the Emergency Department’s healthcare professionals and in turn, the population of more than 600,000 people the regional hospital services.

“We want to mimic real life as much as possible when we’re doing simulations,” Philips explains. “When Sarah and I are running a sim, we try to put ourselves in the corner and let the sim play out because we want people to engage with it as they would in real life, but that’s not as achievable as we’d like because of the quality of the current mannequin we use.”

Keeping teams immersed in simulations from start to finish

For example, the Emergency Department team at PRHC is unable to observe changing vital signs with the current mannequins.

Instead, they have to remove themselves from the simulation and ask Philips and Dr. Foohey to describe changes in the simulated patient, such as if they are breathing, what their blood pressure is, and whether their pupils are dilated.

Having a mannequin that presents changing vital signs on its own in real time would allow the team to remain present in the simulation from start to finish, more closely matching a true-life scenario.

“There’s an element of willing suspension of disbelief when your mannequin is quite old,” Dr. Foohey says. “Having a better mannequin helps with that hurdle of emotional fidelity. Once you get past those first few minutes of a sim, then people are immersed. That’s when the learning happens.”

Hands-on practice of lifesaving procedures

The new simulation mannequin will have four removable limbs to simulate traumatic accidents and gunshot wounds.

In addition, the mannequin can take injections into veins, bones, or muscles, unlike the current ones where the team pretends to give injections and tapes tubes to the mannequin. It’s also able to simulate a cricothyrotomy situation — a procedure often depicted on TV or in movies that isn’t common in real life, where healthcare professionals have to access an airway through the front of the neck.

“Having the procedural options is such better training for the doctors and nurses because they actually practise hands-on and it adds to the sense of reality,” says Dr. Foohey.

“When someone has to pretend and say ‘I did a chest tube’ but actually didn’t, it doesn’t really simulate the five to ten minutes it takes to do one, and they lose situational awareness. Until you’re actually walking through a procedure, you’re not really simulating a procedure. And for something like the cricothyrotomy that might be more of a once-in-a-career situation, the team has a chance to become familiar with the procedure, but also where to access the necessary supplies and how to work together on it.”

Identifying obstacles in advance before real patients arrive

Simulation training also helps the team identify other problems and obstacles that could arise during an emergency and affect patient care.

A recent simulation helped the Emergency Department team see that a rare medication that was needed in the scenario was located in another department — which could make a lifesaving difference when seconds count.

“We get to practise the medical learning and work through our processes so that, in real-life moments, it’s not the first time you’re experiencing it, everything is where it should be, and we’ve talked about it,” Philips says.

Strengthening team communication and fostering a safe learning environment

Dr. Foohey adds that these simulations also strengthen team communication, which indirectly benefits patient care. Sim debriefs look at how well teams interact with each other to ensure clarity, such as participants using each other’s names and following closed-loop communication practices.

“We use sim as an opportunity to remind teams that, when multiple doctors are involved in a case, they can brainstorm, but the one doctor designated as lead needs to be clear with the decision and their language,” Dr. Foohey says.

“It also gives members of the team the opportunity to say ‘This stresses me out’ or ‘That’s unclear.’,” Dr. Foohey points out. “It becomes a sounding board for non-sim communication challenges because it’s a safe space to bring it up and address it effectively.”

Philips says the training also aims to break down the “perceived hierarchy” that exists between participating practitioners to ensure all team members are comfortable speaking up and sharing their concerns in support of better patient care.

“We’re really fostering that safe learning environment for everybody, whether you’re a longtime emergency doctor or nurse, new to emergency medicine, upskilling or a junior team member joining sim as part of orientation,” she says. “Practising lifelike situations helps everyone to learn together when they wouldn’t ordinarily do that. Training could be very segregated otherwise.”

Philips notes that cultivating that level of teamwork and trust enhances the team’s ability to work together under pressure, in what are likely to be the most critical and vulnerable moments of their patients and their families.

Improving collaboration and enhancing PRHC’s simulation training program

PRHC invites EMS crews to join in the training, not only to enhance the realism of the scenario but to extend the team trust to and encourage collaboration across partner organizations for the best care for the patient.

“When the relationship is strengthened, so is patient care,” says Dr. Foohey. “EMS trust us because they know that we’re trying our best to do right by the patients and it’s reflected in everything we do. It extends beyond sim and education.”

This collaborative approach lends itself to PRHC’s reputation as a regional healthcare leader with a high-quality simulation training program. Other regional health centres take inspiration from it.

Dr. Foohey says a new Emergency Department simulation mannequin will only strengthen that reputation by generating more interest among healthcare professionals and expanding the range of learning opportunities. If other centres can create successful simulation training programs, care in those communities will be strengthened, contributing to a stronger system.

“People know our program is working and want to know how and why and that’s important,” Dr. Foohey says. “Not only will a new mannequin have a positive impact on patient care, but when everyone is working hard while facing the challenges of frontline emergency medicine having a successful, engaging program with new tools and new supplies helps energize them. There’s inherent value in that and it’s something I’m excited for.”

Donations fund urgent needs for equipment or technology

The simulation mannequin is just one of many areas of urgent care that are being supported through PRHC’s $70 million Campaign for PRHC.

Other urgent needs funded throughout the campaign by donors who have given general, undesignated gifts have included nutrition services equipment, the hospital’s new Reactivation Care Centre, mental health care supports, Emergency Department trauma care equipment, and technology for the Palliative Care Unit, among many others.

“These are unexpected opportunities for innovation or advancement that support better patient care right away,” Heighway says. “When PRHC asks us to urgently fund equipment or technology, it’s the generosity of our community that gives us the flexibility to do so.”

“A simulation training mannequin for the Emergency Department is an exciting opportunity to support our hardworking ED team,” she adds. “This is a unique and regionally specific way donors in our area can assist our emergency healthcare professionals with the extraordinary work they do when we need them most.”

“It’s an honour to fundraise for something that Emily and Dr. Foohey, who are so passionate about patient care and the training that helps their teams deliver the very best care possible, need. Together, we can raise the $160,000 to bring this specialty training equipment to PRHC.”

To learn more about fundraising for urgent needs at PRHC and to make a donation, visit the PRHC Foundation website at prhcfoundation.ca or call 705-876-5000.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with the Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.

As municipal election lawn signs go up across the City of Peterborough, residents are asking questions about the details of each candidate’s platforms and wanting answers on how they will address the most pressing issues facing the city.

Municipal elections across Ontario will take place on Monday, October 26. As residents of a single-tier municipality, Peterborough voters will elect a mayor and two city councillors in each of the city’s five wards, as well as school board trustees.

Although incumbent mayor Jeff Leal has yet to declare whether he intends to run for re-election, six candidates have filed their nomination papers so far seeking the mayor’s chair: Michael Eamon, Brian Lumsden, Jacob Méthot, Neil Morton, incumbent councillor Keith Riel, and Rebecca Schillemat.

Meanwhile, seven incumbent councillors have already begun their campaign for re-election. With 17 first-time or repeat candidates also on the ballot, each seat will be hotly contested. The nomination period is still open until August 21, so it’s possible even more candidates may decide to throw their hats in the ring at the last minute.

As part of a multi-story series on the Peterborough municipal election, kawarthaNOW has already asked registered candidates in each of the city’s five wards — Ward 1 (Otonabee), Ward 2 (Monaghan), Ward 3 (Town), Ward 4 (Ashburnham), and Ward 5 (Northcrest) — to introduce their campaigns by answering three questions: why they are running, what the biggest challenge is in their ward, and what makes them a unique candidate for councillor.

Having published their responses verbatim, kawarthaNOW has now contacted all registered ward candidates to ask for their position on key election issues. Candidates were asked the following questions:

• How should Peterborough approach economic development strategies and opportunities?
• What is your position on housing intensification both in established neighbourhoods and city wide?
• Explain your priorities for transportation and active transportation.
• What are your financial priorities and how will you balance funding needs across city services?
• Explain your understanding of and position on the role of ward councillors as neighbourhood advocates versus city-wide representatives.
• Are there any other issues you want to comment on?

Economic development is a primary function of municipal government, but councils must balance the need for growth with the needs and desires of existing residents. As the city embarks on the process of developing its first economic development strategic plan, successful council candidates will be responsible for guiding and implementing the plan.

At a recent open house, Kevin McPhillips of McSweeney & Associates, the consulting firm retained by the city to facilitate the development of the plan, highlighted investment diversification and community development as key facets of the new five-year plan.

Economic issues raised by local residents have included revitalizing the downtown core, support for small and local businesses, and the attraction of new employers and job opportunities.

With respect to housing, increasing rates of chronic homelessness and the ongoing housing affordability crisis remain at the forefront of voters’ minds. In the 2024 Point in Time report, the United Way Peterborough & District identified a lack of affordable housing as a primary barrier to exiting homelessness.

At the same time, some residents are wary of what they consider to be inappropriate housing intensification in established neighbourhoods. For example, the approval of a 17-storey apartment building at 90 Hunter Street East has seen pushback from neighbours due to concerns about maintaining the integrity of the East City community.

Meanwhile, the city began implementation of their 15-year Transportation Master Plan (TMP) in 2022 including goals for road infrastructure, transit, and active transportation. The TMP report demonstrated a shifting prioritization to climate and accessibility by residents.

Some Peterborough residents have expressed their discontent with the public transit system, citing concerns such as poor vehicle cleanliness and maintenance, repeated cancellations and lateness, and the route system being inadequate.

“The buses became so unreliable that I just stopped using them all together,” reads a post on the r/Peterborough Reddit page.

As for the role of councillors, they are responsible for making decisions on the city’s annual budget, including priorities for services ranging from the police to the library and much more. For voters, understanding a candidate’s position on funding needs and priorities is central to making a decision on whether to support a candidate.

In recent years, the annual budget process has drawn significant criticism from residents. For example, when city staff proposed a 25 per cent cut in funding for 75 arts and social services organizations in the 2025 draft budget as a way to reduce costs, council heard from 33 public delegations before voting to maintain 2024 funding levels.

While councillors represent constituents in their individual wards, they make decisions on issues that affect the entire city, including residents who do not live in their wards. Some candidates, including incumbent councillors, as well as local residents have expressed support for transitioning to an at-large system, where all voters are represented by all councillors. Advocates say this model prevents councillors from making decisions based soley or largely on the interests of their own constituents.

In addition to economic development, housing, transportation, and the city’s finances and governance, many candidates have also commented on other challenges, such as public safety and council transparency.

The responses of candidates to kawarthaNOW’s questions will from a series of stories to be published over the coming weeks.