One City Peterborough held an event called “Opening Doors” on Tuesday evening (May 12) at Knights of Columbus Hall to discuss the non-profit organization’s housing strategy and how it is working to address homelessness in the community, including by developing additional rental units (ARUs).

The event was attended by volunteers, donors, supporters, partners, and other community members, including several mayoralty and councillor candidates in this fall’s municipal election.

One City has been involved in the management and purchasing of residential properties since the organization was established in 2019 following the merger of Warming Room Community Ministries and Peterborough Reintegration Services.

“Non-profits purchasing housing made so much sense,” Tammy Kuehne, acting executive director of One City, told the crowd when speaking about early property acquisition and the role of private donors in securing housing and funding to operate programming.

Working with Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes to develop additional rental units

Over the past six years, One City has been successful in purchasing a property, either a house or a church, every year. The charity currently owns eight residential properties and partners with local landlords to support a total of 51 spaces for transitional living.

It is on these properties that One City has begun the development of ARUs to increase available rental stock. The charity works in collaboration with Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH), which acts as the lead project management and construction team.

ARUs are defined within the City of Peterborough as a “self-contained residential unit with a private kitchen, bathroom facilities, and sleeping areas within dwellings or within structures ancillary to a dwelling.” This can include basement apartments and so-called in-law suites as well as independent structures.

To date, this program has one fully completed and two nearly completed ARUs built on One City properties — including a backyard “tiny house” and a self-contained basement apartment in the main building — and the organization is already seeing success for the program.

Janice Hoskins, a volunteer coordinator for the recently renovated property, told kawarthaNOW she became involved with One City because “It makes me feel like I am not alone in my concerns.”

“I feel very passionately about people being precariously housed and unhoused,” she said. “I was looking for an organization that would address the problem head on.”

‘Dignity and autonomy are a really important part of housing stabilization’

One City built its first ARU at The Erin Sullivan House on Monaghan Road, named after the late long-term One City and One Roof volunteer who passed away in 2022 at the age of 43 of cystic fibrosis. The ARU has been named “Erin’s Tiny Home” in her honour.

A main focus of ARU development for One City is the opportunity to provide single-occupancy dwellings in addition to their existing congregate living houses.

Elisa Zeus, housing coordinator at One City, told kawarthaNOW the charity needs “a really large continuum of housing,” including options for people who need to live on their own.

Kuehne explained that for individuals transitioning out of homelessness, being able to live alone provides dignity and autonomy as well as the opportunity to really begin making positive change in their lives.

Reading a message from the tenant at Erin’s Tiny Home, Kuehne shared how the ARU allowed this person to host their family, keep regular routines, and focus on their mental health.

“Dignity and autonomy are a really important part of housing stabilization,” said Zeus of the long-term impact of single-occupancy dwellings.

Purchase of Stewart Street home with United Way support will add two new ARUs, including an accessible one

On April 15, One City closed on the purchase of a home on Stewart Street for which they already have the support of the City of Peterborough to develop two ARUs.

This purchase was made possible by funding through the Reaching Home program coordinated by the United Way Peterborough & District.

“They not only kept the piece of property out of the (private rental) market, but it kept those folks in their homes and adds new units,” said Rhonda Gilchrist, senior director of operations and revenue generation at the United Way.

The Reaching Home program, which receives its funding from the Government of Canada, supports projects that align with the goals of the federal government’s national homelessness and housing strategies.

Gilchrist said that, during a comprehensive community needs assessment in fall 2025, the United Way found that the most significant issue in Peterborough was the lack of available units and overall low housing stock.

Michael VanDerHerberg, director of property development at One City, said One City will begin building two new units on the Stewart Street property in June, with one of the units accessible to meet the complex needs of the unhoused community.

“ARUs allow us to build accessibility into the design and let residents age at home with us,” Zeus added.

Looking ahead: developing more ARUs and purpose-built supportive housing

Looking ahead, One City is working to acquire new properties across Peterborough and develop additional ARUs.

“The housing acquisitions and builds we have done so far have demonstrated to us so clearly that purchasing and protecting housing so that it remains affordable, supportive, and safe is the right way forward,” Kuehne told kawarthaNOW.

One City is currently fundraising to purchase a residential property at 705 Sherbrooke Street owned by the City of Peterborough.

On April 13, Peterborough city council unanimously voted to sell the property to One City for $410,000 and provide the charity with a vendor take-back mortgage of $200,000, which would be fully forgivable at the end of its 20-year term.

VanDerHerberg told event attendees that One City still needs to raise a further $155,000 from the community to close on the property this summer.

“We want to capture a moment in time where momentum is building,” he said. “We’re leaning into this and we hope you lean into it with us.”

One City is also seeking funding to purchase a house on Dublin Street, which has space to develop four ARUs. This would be the organization’s largest development to add new units to the Peterborough rental market.

On their website, One City indicates that its housing programs “remove housing from the private market” and treat housing as a right and not a commodity.

In addition to purchasing existing residential properties, One City will also be seeking larger lots to build multi-unit developments.

With May 12 marking the last day of One City’s outreach programs for unsheltered people due to a lack of funding, the charity spoke to refocusing their work on providing transitional housing in addition to offering overnight shelter and drop-in services at Trinity Community Centre, located in the former Trinity United Church on Reid Street.

That’s where One City operates a daytime drop-in program and an overnight shelter program, with both programs funded through a three-year service agreement with the City of Peterborough.

VanDerHerberg said that there are also early plans to renovate Trinity to include three floors of purpose-built supportive housing, offering a total 15 to 20 units, noting this is a long-term goal over the next five to 10 years.

“Our goal is to strengthen our infrastructure, skills, and capacity for when those opportunities come,” Kuehne added.

For more information about One City Peterborough and to donate, visit www.onecityptbo.ca.

The Peterborough Community Health Centre (PCHC) in downtown Peterborough has a washer and dryer and a new community kitchen that will enhance care for marginalized communities, thanks to a $30,000 donation from a local construction company.

The donation from MCI Constructors Inc. (previously Mortlock Construction Inc.) funded the purchase and installation of the washer and dryer along with the full outfitting of the kitchen, both of which will allow the PCHC to address immediate client needs as well as improve the centre’s ability to provide wraparound community-based care.

The PCHC’s mandate is to serve people who do not have a primary care provider and experience barriers related to social, economic, cultural, or systemic factors, including people who are experiencing homelessness, people who self-identify as Indigenous, are from racialized groups or communities, have physical or mental disabilities, identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, or are newcomers such as immigrants and refugees.

“This gift is about supporting the people and services that make our community stronger,” said MCI Constructors Inc. co-owner Craig and Ashley Mortlock in a media release.

“The PCHC provides essential care to so many individuals and families, and we wanted our contribution to reflect our values and our long-standing commitment to the community we live and work in.”

According to PCHC, having on-site laundry services better supports clients who are unhoused or experiencing housing instability by providing clean clothing and managing essential laundry needs directly within the centre.

The PCHC says the new community kitchen expands opportunities to improve health outcomes through food-based supports. Not only will it ensure clients who arrive hungry receive nourishing meals, but the kitchen will be used for nutrition education and food literacy programming and support partnerships focused on food security.

The community kitchen could also support expanded food access initiatives, including daily meals, food cupboards, and culturally relevant nutrition supports.

“We’re deeply grateful to MCI Constructors,” said PCHC executive director Ashley Safar. “Their support of kitchen and laundry appliances at the PCHC helps us extend patient care beyond the exam room into food, wellness, and community connection.”

While the PCHC’s core healthcare services are supported through Ontario Health, donations enable the centre to respond to additional client needs that contribute to their health, dignity, and wellbeing.

The PCHC is continuing to seek community support for additional priorities, including Indigenous wellness initiatives such as traditional healing and plant medicine, expansion of its 2SLGBTQIA+ informed care program, and emergency supports to help clients meet urgent needs such as transportation, food, or replacing identification.

To learn more about supporting the PCHC or to make a donation, email Brooke Erickson at brooke.erickson@ptbochc.ca.

kawarthaNOW.com is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026.

That’s 30 years of locally owned digital media, 30 years of responding to unpredictable obstacles, and 30 years of community events, breaking news, event listings, and reporting across five counties. And, behind it all, 30 years of determination and impact from a woman who went against the grain to become one of the first female digital publishers in Canada.

The story of kawarthaNOW began during the Christmas holidays in 1995, when founder, CEO, and publisher Jeannine Taylor — then a magazine editor for three local print publications — surfed the internet for the very first time.

Peterborough had just gotten connected and, after a few attempts, Jeannine finally got online and spent days on what was then called the “information superhighway” — “I was single at the time,” she jokes.

“I knew this was a new emerging medium that was going to change everything, from how we communicate to how we promote,” she says.

The Peterborough native encouraged her print publisher to get ahead of the times, though he couldn’t see into future like Jeannine could, so she quit her job and just five months later on May 1, 1996, with the help of her former business partner Michael Young, launched Quid Novis, an “e-zine” focused on local community information and events. The following year, she acquired the domain name quidnovis.com for the website.

One of only a handful of local websites at the time, it saw 10,000 visits in its very first week — a very impressive achievement in 1996 when less than 20 per cent of Canadians were online. Jeannine garnered much media attention, and even travelled to Toronto to be featured on CBC Radio.

Despite the website’s popularity, Jeannine says it was a challenge to monetize it, as many businesses were still firmly entrenched in the world of print advertising and saw the internet as a passing fad.

“We were way ahead of our time because there were few websites, so no one understood the need to advertise,” Jeannine says. “It was difficult to make the connection of what a print ad was to its online equivalent. We take it for granted now because we see banner ads everywhere.”

Local businesses and organizations, however, began seeking out Jeannine for her guidance in website development and internet marketing. So she launched Quid Novis Internet Productions, a website development and hosting company, while continuing to maintain quidnovis.com as a free community service.

By this time, the internet had proven to be transformative not just on Jeannine’s professional life, but also in her personal life, as she met her partner Bruce Head on match.com on May 31 the same month Quid Novis launched.

Since then, he has been by her side, both in business and life, and is currently kawarthaNOW’s managing editor.

Perhaps Bruce was one of few people who saw Jeannine’s vision of the internet in those early days. It was not easy to get a bank account or insurance for an internet business, and even more challenging if you were a female entrepreneur attempting to secure financing.

“It was a group of men around the boardroom table who didn’t even want to talk to me about what the business was,” Jeannine says. “One of them asked me where the men were who were involved in the business.”

Fortunately, she had no problem ignoring the men, and continued to build the business on her own.

Over the next 16 years, Quid Novis Internet Productions developed hundreds of websites for small to large companies and organizations as well as different levels of government, winning multiple awards in the process. In 2003, Jeannine earned a Premier’s Award nomination and, two years later, was named Business Woman of the Year by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce.

With the rise of social media in the aughts, Jeannine saw the opportunity to revisit the community website she first created in 1996, envisioning it as a digital media company. Quidnovis.com was rebranded as kawarthaNOW.com and launched in 2009 as the online publication you know today, generating revenue through digital advertising and locally focused branded editorial.

“It still holds true today that a subscription model or a paywall model was never a viable option for us,” Jeannine says, noting she has a policy that as long as she owns the company, there will never be a registration requirement or paywall. “I think that information has to be freely available on the internet and monetization needs to be approached strategically and with an entrepreneurship lens.”

It was with that entrepreneurship lens that Jeannine was in the process of developing an innovative “choose local” campaign in early 2020 when the pandemic hit and changed everything.

kawarthaNOW became an in-demand source for community news and updates about the pandemic and website traffic tripled from 25,000 to over 70,000 regular readers (and, better yet, that traffic stuck after the pandemic).

But it wasn’t just important news that kawarthaNOW delivered during the pandemic. In kawarthaNOW’s weekly VIP e-news, Jeannine took it upon herself to offer messages of hope, resilience, and support among all the uncertainty.

Every week for one year, Jeannine began the e-newsletter with a famous quote and a punchy or inspiring message for readers.

Inclusive of her own anecdotes, feelings, and observations, Jeannine’s messages explored everything from the strength of front-line workers to the turmoil of lockdowns, the importance of self-care, the “new normal,” the rise of anti-racist movements in response to U.S. protests, and so much more.

“It really changed depending on what people were feeling that week because we were all on a roller coaster,” Jeannine says. “Every week, I tried to gauge where people were at.”

It’s initiatives like this that make local independent media something that people can count on. Over the years, kawarthaNOW has adopted other traditions that gives it a personal edge over the competition — the annual cheeky April Fool’s Day story crafted by Bruce, for example, or the annual year-end summary of the most impactful stories.

With distrust in mainstream media continuing to rise, Jeannine says, local independent media is needed more than ever. Many readers tell her they only follow specific news sources, and local independent news is often at the top of the list.

“People have select choices, but in every case they do trust local media,” she says. “I think it’s because, whether it’s us or someone else, they know the people in the community. I don’t think the need for local media is going away anytime soon.”

When the federal government passed the Online News Act in June 2023 and Meta blocked access to news for Canadians on its social media sites, kawarthaNOW faced what Jeannine says was a “much bigger pivot than the pandemic.”

Suddenly, more than 50,000 followers could no longer see kawarthaNOW’s posts on Facebook and Instagram.

“It was policy that was developed because print media lobbied heavily for it,” Jeannine says. “Our readers were frustrated and concerned about losing access to local news.”

In response, kawarthaNOW.com launched its daily e-news delivered straight to the inboxes of thousands of readers’ inboxes, which maintains a 70 per cent open rate, and launched the Kawartha Now Community Facebook group, which has now gained over 8,500 members.

Through all the ups and downs over the past 30 years, kawarthaNOW has continued to deliver quality in reporting breaking news, advertising, sharing community stories, and curating upwards of 800 local events at any given time.

Jeannine and Bruce did not even miss a day of publication during lengthy weather-related power outages in recent years, because it was during these times that the community needed local media more than ever.

The publication has always worked to serve the community, as evident when Jeannine developed the “Know Your Locals” branded editorial series as an affordable way for small businesses to advertise. It’s still being offered at the introductory rate two years later.

Additionally, kawarthaNOW donates upwards of $200,000 to the community annually through in-kind donations of time, advertising, and sponsorship of non-profits, focusing on arts and environmental initiatives and advocacy for vital women’s and social programs and organizations.

As a female founder who has shattered glass ceilings, Jeannine aims to inspire and mentor female entrepreneurs — reminding them not to listen to those men in the boardroom.

“I think that being a female publisher means going up against the patriarchy every day,” she says. “I was alone in that boardroom with all those men and I didn’t ever have a female mentor to help. So that’s my soft spot, and I try to connect with women who are in the early stages of their business and need support.”

That generosity is one of the reasons Jeannine has earned numerous awards and accolades over the years.

They include a City of Peterborough Civic Award for chairing the development of Millennium Park, an inaugural Peterborough-Kawartha Women’s Leadership Award organized by Maryam Monsef in 2018, inductions into the Peterborough & District Pathway of Fame in 2023 and the Peterborough Business Hall of Fame in 2024, and the inaugural Legacy award of the Luminary Awards for women in business in 2025.

Despite all the challenges facing the media industry, Jeannine remains committed to kawarthaNOW’s mission of keeping residents informed.

“This is not a high-profit-margin industry, but it’s okay because we’re doing what we want to do,” Jeannine says. “We’re serving the community. We’re keeping people employed and doing what they want to do. Those are all good things.”

Jeannine always says recruitment is her superpower, pointing to Bruce as an exceptional editor who, as someone who also reports on those often painfully long city council meetings, doesn’t sleep any more than Jeannine does.

Long-time writer Paul Rellinger is also a testament to that, given that he has chosen to spend the past 10 years bringing his decades of award-winning journalism experience to kawarthaNOW.

And yet, Jeannine also makes space for writers like me, when I was fresh out of school and just beginning a career in an intimidating industry.

“Our biggest strength is that there’s trust but also the quality is there,” Jeannine says. “I love marketing, and I know that we can help people with marketing. People tell us that works.”

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, kawarthaNOW will be launching a promotion to recognize long-term partners throughout the year.

“We’re marking 30 years this year by putting together a limited set of anniversary features and campaigns that highlight local businesses alongside that milestone,” says Jeannine. “It will be a nice opportunity for our advertisers to tell a bigger story and get some longer-term visibility.”

Peterborough city council has voted to commit $57 million in city funding towards the cost of a proposed $170-million multi-use sport and event centre in downtown Peterborough, amid repeated warnings that not replacing the aging Peterborough Memorial Centre could result in the Peterborough Petes hockey team leaving the city.

At its meeting on Monday night (May 11), councillors heard from four public delegations on the proposed event centre, three of whom spoke in favour.

Under a new procedure by-law approved by council in February, a maximum of four delegations is allowed to speak on any single agenda item at council. kawarthaNOW has learned that a local lawyer with objections to the event centre who contacted city hall early Thursday morning to get on the registered delegation list was advised it was already full.

Two of the four public delegations were supporters at mayor’s May 4 media conference

The three delegations who spoke in favour of the event centre included Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) board chair Deanna Guttman, Ontario Hockey League (OHL) commissioner Brian Crawford, and Selwyn resident Paul Harris-Lowe, who is a member of the city’s economic development working group.

Guttman and Harris-Lowe were both part of a media conference organized by Mayor Jeff Leal last Monday morning (May 4) in support of the event centre, hours before the general committee meeting where the mayor introduced his original motion in support of the event centre:

• That Council commit one-third of the cost, approximately $57 million, towards the event centre project;
• That staff be directed to provide a report identifying the funding plan to finance this $57 million commitment including amendments to the city’s debt limit;
• That staff be directed to initiate proactive advocacy and explore options to acquire the remaining two-thirds of the cost, approximately $114 million, from the Government of Canada, Province of Ontario, County of Peterborough, private sector partners, fundraising, naming rights and sponsorship opportunities, and non-debt supported sources;
• That staff be directed to provide council with a report detailing options for funds from non-debt supported sources; and
• That $1.7 million be pre-committed in the 2027 budget to include a project manager position, site studies, and preliminary consultant services.

During his May 4 media conference, Leal spoke about the need to replace the aging 70-year-old aging Peterborough Memorial Centre alongside a sign reading “Vision 2096” and renderings of event centres in Sudbury and Brantford.

“We need to think about the next 70 years of Peterborough,” Leal said at the time. “This is a generational opportunity for our community. A new event centre will revitalize our downtown by driving foot traffic and encouraging investment. It will transform our waterfront and stimulate economic growth and development, and it will make Peterborough a regional hub and tourism destination for the next 70 years.”

During her delegation at Monday night’s meeting, Guttman reiterated many of the points she made during the mayor’s media conference, describing the benefits of an event centre to the downtown.

Asked by councillor Alex Bierk whether the DBIA would contribute to the project by increasing its levy to members, Guttman said “We would have to consult with the members on that.”

Councillor Kevin Duguay asked Guttman whether she felt that the city’s investment in the King Street parking garage, Millennium Park, and Quaker Foods Square have had a positive impact on the downtown, to which Guttman said “Absolutely, yes.”

OHL commissioner warns Petes could leave Peterborough without new arena

In his delegation, OHL commissioner Brian Crawford spoke about the legacy of the Peterborough Petes and its importance to the community, and how the Peterborough Memorial Centre “has reached the end of its lifespan” and “is no longer meeting the expectations of today’s fans, players, partners, and stakeholders.”

He said that municipally owned arenas are “vital pieces of infrastructure,” referring to Brantford, Sudbury, and Ottawa investing in new facilities.

“I’m here to encourage the City of Peterborough to do the same,” Crawford said. “In its current state, the arena no longer meets the standards of the league or the host. A new modern facility will ensure long-term viability for the franchise that means so much to the community,” adding that a new facility would provide the opportunity to host major events including the Memorial Cup and allow the city to “retain its vibrant sports teams.”

Councillor Andrew Beamer asked Crawford if the city is at risk of losing its OHL franchise if it doesn’t proceed with a new event centre.

“The answer to that a question is a simple yes,” Crawford said, adding that the OHL is committed to working with the city and the Petes “to make sure they have a viable, long-term future for another 70 years in Peterborough” — echoing the same timeframe and wording Mayor Leal has used referring to “Vision 2096” for the event centre.

In response to questions from councillors Bierk and Kevin Duguay, Crawford estimated that the Memorial Cup generates “tens of millions of dollars” for the host city.

Asked by councillor Gary Baldwin whether the OHL would work with the Petes should the Memorial Centre be shut down for nine to 12 months for upgrades, Crawford said the OHL would work with the Petes to find a “temporary home.”

The sole delegation to speak against the event centre was retired senior Robert Parkin, who raised concerns about the impact of raising property taxes on those with fixed incomes, and said that raising taxes to pay for a new arena would not attract people to live in Peterborough.

He questioned whether sports fans would be willing to pay increased prices to contribute to a new arena and whether the Memorial Centre would continue to be maintained at taxpayers” expense. He also suggested a referendum on the new arena.

“Councillors need to represent all Peterborough taxpayers, not just our local sports fans, and we cannot let the OHL dictate to us that we have to spend $170 million on an arena. Councillors control this city, not the OHL.”

Paul Harris-Lowe, who was the former chair of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation before it became the now-defunct Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development, said he was speaking to council as an individual and not on behalf of the city’s economic development working group.

He reiterated the comments he made at Mayor Leal’s media conference in support of the event centre, adding that the city could have constructed a new arena in 2003 for an estimated $25 million, instead of investing a total of $38 million in the Memorial Centre — including $13 million in renovations in 2023, $3.5 million in 2019 to repair the floor of the arena, and an estimated $22 million now to keep the facility operational.

In response to a question from councillor Don Vassiliadis about whether the possibility of a new event centre would attract new investment in the city, Harris-Lowe said that business owners often visit a city as tourists, and that the aging Memorial Centre will not attract businesses to locate in Peterborough.

Councillor Joy Lachica asked Harris-Lowe if he thinks it is “reasonable” for council to wait four or five months to get a report back on a funding strategy for the events centre. He said that the longer the city waits, the more costly it will be to build one.

“I’m not here to comment on whether four months is considered significant or not, but by delaying for a significant period of time I think is a significant mistake,” Harris-Lowe said.

Noting that the OHL commissioner said “we will lose our OHL franchise if we do not proceed,” councillor Beamer asked Harris-Lowe whether losing the Petes would be a “significant blow” or a “minor blow.”

Harris-Lowe said his personal opinion is that it would “be a shame” and would result in a loss of tourism and would “put the Lakers at risk as well.”

Councillor Lachica’s motion to defer the mayor’s motion fails for a second time

Following a vote on consent items, councillors debated the mayor’s motion, with councillor Lachica introducing the same motion she did at general committee the previous Monday night: that the mayor’s motion be deferred for five months so that city staff scan providing council with a “comprehensive funding and implementation strategy to secure the remaining two-thirds of the project cost” before the city commits one-third of funding for the project.

As was the case at general committee, councillor Dave Haacke spoke in favour of the deferral.

Councillor Bierk, who was not present at the general committee meeting, said he recognized the support for a new event centre but expressed concerns about committing $57 million for the project without having support from other levels of government or the private sector. He asked staff whether the city could commit $57 million in principle without allocating the funds.

Finance and corporate support services commissioner Richard Freymond said the only amount of funding that would be committed in the 2027 budget for the new event centre and affect the tax rate would be $1.7 million for a project manager position, site studies, and preliminary consultant services.

However, he said he would internally reserve $57 million of the city’s remaining debt capacity — which would have to be increased from the current debt ceiling of $30 million — for the project, which would make it unavailable for other projects that require debt financing.

Bierk said he would support the deferral as it would not stop the project, adding that “I don’t buy into that narrative.”

Councillor Keith Riel noted that MPP Dave Smith said there is no provincial funding for the project, and that MP Emma Harrison said it would be 18 to 24 months if any funds are available from the federal government. He said the city’s RFQ (request for quotations) resulted in responses from three proponents from the private sector, none of which was willing to invest in the event centre.

While he admitted he was uncomfortable with some of the debt-financing options for the new event centre, councillor Beamer said “There’s a little bit of fear-mongering here tonight” with respect to impacts on future capital projects, noting that city staff will come back to council with a plan and options to come up with funding from other sources. He said he would not support the deferral as the funding plan is part of the mayor’s motion.

After councillor Lachica spoke again in favour of the deferral, councillor Baldwin said he could not support the deferral as the issue would then default to the next council.

“Let our staff take the next five months to start making those connections with senior levels of government and the business community and the development community,” Baldwin said.

Councillor Lesley Parnell asked councillor Lachica whether deferring the motion for five months would mean that the decision would not come back to the current council. Lachica said that it would mean the item comes back to council after the October election, so that it is not an election issue.

Councillor Duguay called the question to end further debate on the deferral, which carried 8-3, with councillors Matt Crowley, Bierk, and Riel voting against.

Council then voted on the deferral, which lost 5-6, with councillors Lachica, Bierk, Haacke, Parnell, and Riel voting in favour and Mayor Leal and councillors Crowley, Vassiliadis, Beamer, Duguay, and Baldwin voting against. The vote split was the same as at the general committee meeting, except for Bierk who was not present at that meeting

‘It would be devastating to the City of Peterborough if we lost the Petes’

With the deferral defeated, councillors then debated the main motion.

Councillor Beamer said he supported the motion as long as the cost of the event centre was not borne by the city alone.

“If we do not get the two-thirds (from other levels of government), then we’re not spending the $57 million, but I think it’s prudent we move it forward,” he said, noting that the city needs to replace the Memorial Centre instead of spending a minimum of $30 million over the next 15 years to just maintain it.

“Also, we heard this evening that if we do not proceed with the new sports and entertainment facility, we will lose the Peterborough Petes,” he added. “It would be devastating to the City of Peterborough if we lost the Petes, if we lost the Lakers.”

He also said the event centre was needed to revitalize the downtown core.

In his remarks, councillor Riel said there is no commitment from other levels of government or private investors in a new event centre.

“We are debating whether this is the right priority for taxpayers at this moment in time,” he said, saying residents are “dealing with property tax fatigue, families are struggling with affordability, our infrastructure deficit continues to grow,” also mentioning the need to invest in basic city services, public safety, homelessness and housing support.

For his part, councillor Vassiliadis said the motion was more about replacing the Memorial Centre rather than building a new event centre, because of the costs required to maintain the Memorial Centre, operating deficits, and the risk of losing the Petes and Lakers. He said delaying building a new facility will just result in increased costs to build one in the future.

‘I will not vote against this and sentence our downtown and our city to death’

Councillor Crowley said he ran for council because “our roads were crumbling, our buildings were empty … everything felt outdated and ignored,” adding that “tonight is one of those moments where the work shifts from repair to renewal.” When he was growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, he said, the downtown was “where Peterborough was happening.”

“We lost that at some point, slowly then quickly,” he said, with a perception that the downtown was no longer safe and there were fewer reasons for people to come downtown. “Once a perception like that takes hold, it has its own gravity. Fewer people, fewer reasons. Fewer people, fewer reasons. It’s a death spiral that everybody in this room has watched happen over the last few decades. The multi-sport and event centre is how we break that spiral.”

“Bottom line is that cities that invest in their downtown core get downtown cores worth visiting, and cities that don’t watch them die. I will not vote against this and sentence our downtown and our city to death.”

Councillor Lachica said her concern was not only the city’s growing infrastructure backlog, but a lack of investment in the social infrastructure of the downtown that will not be addressed by building a new event centre.

“If we don’t take care of that, we will build it and they will not come,” she said. “We are not a large city; we are a small population with a limited tax base, so we need to be realistic and we need to consider what we create as our priorities.”

She noted that the cost of the new police station was originally $60 million and became $90 million, and that the city is still paying for the $60-million Miskin Law Community Complex.

Councillor Duguay spoke to the support for the project from the Peterborough DBIA and the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, and noted Ashburnham Realty’s Crescent Street development and the city’s commitment to enhance the shoreline of Del Crary Park, “and there is a direct correlation between that and what we’re contemplating this evening.” He added that the city has to commit to the event centre to obtain funding from other levels of government.

‘I love all the talk about supporting the downtown — it’s like a day late and a dollar short to be honest.’

In his remarks, councillor Bierk recognized the attraction of a new event centre but said he represents the taxpayers in Town Ward.

“I love all the talk about supporting the downtown — it’s like a day late and a dollar short to be honest,” he said.

“We don’t even have parking meters that work downtown. We’re struggling to do the most basic things. We haven’t had a replacement of fixtures. Go to any other city our size. They have beautiful, brand new, black fixtures downtown. The last time we invested in those fixtures was in the ’90s, those maroon ones, for the centennial year.”

As someone who grew up in Peterborough, Bierk said, “I don’t appreciate the narrative that’s been thrown around a little irresponsibly tonight, that downtown is not a safe place or a vibrant place.”

“I just spent the week in New York City and, let me tell you, driving back home and coming here, the roads feel like clouds, they’re so smooth. The city is so clean. Being away for a week, I’m really grateful we live here and I think that we all have a beautiful way of life.”

Bierk said that what’s happening in the downtown core is a reflection of past government decisions, such as closing PCVS, where a thousand students would visit the downtown and support local businesses. He said when rules were expanded to allow big box stores on Lansdowne Street, with the argument that it would improve assessment, “it killed the mom-and-pop stores” downtown.

He said an event centre will not be a “silver bullet” to fix all the issues downtown, and that the city’s RFQ process for the event centre did not result in a “vision” for how it would change the downtown. He added that he would support hiring a project manager to get the site shovel-ready, but there are still too many unknowns to commit to $57 million in funding. He pointed out that it cost the city almost $1 million to install a crosswalk and two lights on Hunter Street in East City.

After councillor Baldwin spoke in support of the motion, Mayor Leal referred to the past decision to invest in Peterborough Square in the downtown in the 1970s, saying “This is exactly the same scenario.”

“This investment will keep the assessment of downtown Peterborough healthy, and it will also draw investment into our downtown,” he said, also mentioning the benefit of a new facility for the Lakers and the Petes.

“We need a vision, and to say that there shouldn’t be an opportunity during an election campaign — it’s the time when visions are put forward,” said the mayor, who still hasn’t yet declared whether he will run for re-election.

Leal implied that closing the Memorial Centre “for a minimum of 12 months … could be the death knell of a franchise, something that we don’t want to end.”

As they did in last Monday’s general committee meeting, council then voted on each of the five points of Mayor Leal’s motion.

Councillors voted 8-3 in favour of committing $57 million to the project, with councillors Lachica, Bierk, and Riel voting against. Councillor Parnell, who had voted against the item in general committee, voted in favour.

Councillors voted unanimously 11-0 in favour of the next three points in the mayor’s motion, related to city staff providing council with a financing plan for the $57 million (including debt financing), identifying options to secure the remaining funding, and providing a report to council on those options.

Councillors voted 10-1 in favour of committing $1.7 million in 2027 to hire a project manager and to conduct site studies and preliminary consultant services for the project, with councillor Lachica voting against.

For the fourth year in a row, the Rotary Club of Peterborough is rewarding environmental innovators with financial support for local projects through the Rotary Environmental Innovators Fund (REIF).

During its regular meeting on Monday afternoon (May 11) at McDonnel Street Activity Centre, Rotary announced it is awarding a total of $10,000 for four innovative local environmental projects that range from using light to remove organic pollutants from water to creating a children’s book about wetlands. Three of the four projects are based out of Trent University.

Rotary launched REIF in late 2022 with a goal to promote environmental awareness, sustainability, and remediation by supporting new environmental initiatives in the Peterborough area.

Since then, the fund has awarded more than $40,000 for projects in the areas of biodiversity, water and wastewater technologies, climate change, sustainable living, pollution, waster disposal, and more.

Applications for REIF funds are judged based on how they might impact the local climate and environment, how innovative the project is compared to existing solutions, the practicality of the project, expected benefits, and how the funds would be used.

This year, the REIF committee receiving eight applications and awarded three projects were $3,000 each for their innovative approach and high potential for impact, and one project $1,000 in recognition of innovation, strong community roots, and environmental promise.

The 2026 REIF recipients are:

• Manan Ravat, Trent University – Photocatalytic Degradation of Water Contamination ($3,000)
• Leora Berman, Turtle Guardians – A Community-Powered Turtle Conservation Initiative ($3,000)
• Megan Ward, Trent University – Across the Wetland with Finn – A children’s book introducing young readers to the importance of wetlands, biodiversity, and environmental stewardship ($3,000)
• Shannon Learoyd, Trent University – Just Keep Skimming: Exploring strategies to lower wildlife mortality associated with inground pools ($1,000).

Supporting the environment is one of Rotary International’s seven areas of focus, and REIF is a local initiative that reflects the club’s commitment to service, innovations, and local impact.