As GE Vernova continues planning to demolish a large number of buildings at the General Electric factory complex in downtown Peterborough, Lakelands Public Health will be requesting the company provide a draft demolition plan that addresses any hazards that could affect public health and safety.

Since GE Vernova announced its intention in September to demolish the buildings, area residents have raised concerns about the potential public health and safety risks posed by the demolition, given the historic use of toxins including asbestos since General Electric first began operating the factory complex at 107 Park Street North 150 years ago.

At a meeting on Thursday afternoon (November 20), the board of health of the Kawarthas-region health unit — a merger of Peterborough Public Health and the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit — passed a motion by Joy Lachica, a member of the board and one of the two city councillors for the ward where the factory complex is located, to write a letter to the company.

“It’s a letter to say we need that draft demolition plan sooner rather than later,” Lachica said.

She said anything that could be done now to include the public, stakeholders, and other interested parties would be beneficial to demonstrate the importance of the issue and mitigate any hazards to the community.

According to the motion, the letter would request GE Vernova provide a draft demolition plan addressing historic contamination remediation, any hazards of demolition and disposal that could impact public health and safety, and information regarding any historical complaints related to the site and testing.

The letter would also be copied to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, MPPs Dave Smith, Laurie Scott, and David Piccini, the city and county of Peterborough, and First Nations in the region.

The motion was related to a staff report on the meeting agenda that outlined the planned demolition and the role of the health unit. The agenda was amended to include public delegations, including Jacqueline Wilson, a staff lawyer at Canadian Environmental Law Association.

“GE’s proposed demolition of most of the site at 107 Park Street North has caused a very serious and well-founded concern in the community about how this demolition can take place with the health and safety of the community protected from off-site impacts,” Wilson said.

“We helped the community to put together a request to (medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott), pursuant to the Health Promotion and Protection Act, to put front and centre the desire of the community that the health unit and the board of health play a key role in ensuring the right data is collected about GE’s proposed demolition, and the health-based risks are a key consideration in any plans.”

Wilson said the role of public health would supplement the decision-making authority of city council in granting or denying a demolition permit and would support and supplement the role of the provincial environment ministry in ensuring no off-site environmental impacts.

“We’ve submitted the request as a written submission to the board of health as well,” she said, adding that 458 people from Peterborough had signed the request supporting the submission as of Thursday.

The board of health also heard from Peterborough resident Nick Lato, whose child attends Prince of Wales school, who said he and others in his neighbourhood have concerns about the demolition.

“The standard for this demolition should probably be higher than what it is typical in zoning, just given the fact that is across the street from a school,” Lato said, noting children touch the ground and put their hands in their mouth during play.

“As a parent and a community member, it seems like a very basic request that they’re forced to do a detailed inventory of which toxins exist and only then come up with a plan for how they’re going to demolish the buildings.”

According to the health unit staff report, while GE Vernova has indicated its intent to demolish specific buildings, it had not yet applied to the city for a demolition permit as of November 5.

GE first began operations in Peterborough in 1891 and continued a variety of manufacturing activities until 2018. In 2018, GEPR Energy Canada Inc. — a subsidiary of GE Vernova, an energy equipment manufacturing and services company that was formed from the merger and subsequent spin-off of General Electric’s energy businesses in 2024 — decommissioned buildings in the centre block of the site, removing machinery and equipment from the buildings.

Since then, GE Vernova has maintained office space for 60 employees in the site’s east block and leases several buildings in the west block to BWXT, which was originally part of GE Vernova’s nuclear energy division but became an independent company in 2016 and now specializes in nuclear components and services for government and commercial clients.

Historically, GE factory operations in Peterborough exposed many workers to a wide range of chemicals. A 2017 Unifor report, prepared by occupational disease researchers with members of the GE Retirees Advisory Committee, details the toxic chemical exposures at the General Electric site between 1945 and 2000. The report found workers were exposed to over 3,000 toxic chemicals, including at least 40 known or suspected human carcinogens.

According to the staff report, the facility is known to have supplied many area residential homes with insulation material that contained asbestos, resulting in significant community-based remediation efforts. In addition, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks continues to monitor GE Vernova’s mitigation requirements for soil and ground water contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and trichloroethylene (TCE).

The report notes the proposed demolition project is complex and includes involvement of multiple stakeholders with different responsibilities.

The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks oversees environmental matters related to the demolition, such as contamination containment, groundwater protection, hazardous materials control, and waste management under the provincial Environmental Protection Act.

The City of Peterborough issues the demolition permit, which may include conditions related to site assessments, contamination control, ongoing environmental monitoring, and confirmation that the ministry is satisfied with environmental protection plans.

As for the role of Lakelands Public Health, identifying and reducing exposure to health hazards and mitigating existing and emerging risks is a core public health mandate. In addition, the Health Protection and Promotion Act defines a medical officer of health’s duties to notify and engage with the provincial ministry that has primary responsibility for an identified health hazard related to occupational or environmental health.

The legislation also requires the provincial ministry or a municipality to provide any information they have that is related to an occupational or environmental health matter as requested by the medical officer of health.

The report notes that Lakelands Public Health has attended preliminary conversations GE Vernova and the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks about the proposed demolition, and the health unit “may assist in ensuring a comprehensive understanding of any potential health impacts and assuring that appropriate mitigation measures are in place as needed.”

This summer was scorching. Average temperatures soared far above normal, local creeks ran dangerously low, and trees across the region struggled to survive the drought. It’s clear that the urgency of the climate crisis is escalating. So much is at risk.

Our community canopy has been hit hard in recent years: the emerald ash borer, the derecho of 2022, the ice storm this past spring, and now this summer’s drought. Our crops, our trees, and our most vulnerable relations all need protection.

We must take action now.

At GreenUP, we know that trees are part of the solution. They capture carbon, lower temperatures, support mental health, and create habitat for countless species. That’s why we’re growing trees — right here, right now — in the heart of our community.

As part of our work in 2025, GreenUP partnered with Camp Kawartha and the PVNC Catholic School Board to deliver a project called Reconciling with the Land. GreenUP supported the project by facilitating schoolyard greening projects that connected to the Anishnaabemowin language learning programs at St. John Catholic Elementary School, St. Paul’s Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield, and the Curve Lake First Nation School. The 624 youth who participated in Reconciling with the Land programming all had opportunity to learn about the importance of trees.

As part of our educational work this year, GreenUP also developed educational tree identification signage now installed at Ecology Park and on a trail regularly used by students at the Curve Lake School. When you next visit Ecology Park, we encourage you to give yourself extra time to learn about the 11 species we have new feature signage for. The signs provide stories about each species, provide pictures of the tree structure and leaf, and include names for the tree in English, Latin, and Anishnaabemowin.

Through our native plant propagation program at Ecology Park, we are on track to grow more trees than ever before. This year, as part of our plan to learn and teach about growing native trees we added six new air prune beds, each capable of producing more than 100 native tree seedlings annually. These seedlings will help restore canopy lost to drought and storms.

In 2025 alone, hundreds of children planted 924 trees at four local schools through our Little Forest program. Volunteers joined us to plant another 125 trees at Ecology Park. These are tangible steps toward a healthier future.

When renowned scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger visited GreenUP this fall, she shared a simple but powerful solution: each of us must plant six native trees in the next six years. GreenUP is making that possible right here in Peterborough. Together we can achieve important climate action goals. Your support is essential to build the momentum.

Stephen Hill, longtime GreenUP champion and donor, puts it best: “GreenUP delivers tangible results here at home. This is solution-based work. As donors, we can fund solutions to big environmental challenges right here at home.”

Our winter fundraising goal is $25,000. Every dollar helps us grow and plant more trees, welcome school groups and volunteers to Ecology Park, and teach practical ways to take climate action. A gift of just $35 allows us to grow a native tree from seed and nurture it right here in our community. Imagine the impact when hundreds of us come together to plant the future.

For more than 30 years, GreenUP has been a hub for community-based environmental action. Generations of local residents have learned how to live more gently on our planet through their connection with Ecology Park and GreenUP’s many climate action programs.

Now, as we face another season of climate challenges, your support is needed more than ever.

Please donate today to help GreenUP grow native plants in Ecology Park and plant those trees throughout our community. Together, we can cultivate a generation of action. Together, we can grow the future we all depend on.

The future starts today. Donate now at greenup.on.ca/donate-now/.

The Peterborough police service board made short work of a city council request that it review the police service’s proposed 2026 budget for potential reduction by reaffirming the original requested increase of 9.22 per cent in 2026.

On Wednesday afternoon (November 19), the board — provincial appointee and chair Mary ten Doeschate, provincial appointee and vice-chair Drew Merrett, Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal, Peterborough city councillor Baldwin, and citizens’ appointee Steven Girardi — met virtually along with police chief Stuart Betts and deputy chief Jamie Harnett.

The day before, when meeting as general committee to review the city’s draft 2026 budget, council voted 6-5 to send the proposed police budget back to the police service board for potential reductions, despite city staff warning council that doing so could delay the city’s draft 2026 budget beyond the scheduled December 8 approval date.

The police service board has requested a 9.22 per cent increase in the police operating budget in 2026. The original ask was for $41,506,841, representing an increase of 9.8 per cent ($3,704,600) over 2025, but was subsequently decreased by an estimated $220,000 reduction in benefits for police employees.

During a November 10 presentation of the 2026 police budget to city council, Chief Betts said the requested increase was driven by personnel costs related to legislative and regulatory requirements of the province’s Community Safety and Policing Act.

He said those requirements required the addition of 10 new full-time equivalent positions, including two new officers, six full-time civilian positions, and four part-time civilian positions, as well as non-personnel costs including training and information technology.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the police service board met for 20 minutes in closed session before returning to public session with a motion from Mayor Leal that had been unanimously approved by the board.

“The Peterborough Police Services Board has reviewed its budget, and it will remain at the requested level of 9.22 per cent for 2026,” the mayor said, reading his motion. “The police services board notifies the City of Peterborough clerk John Kennedy of this decision, and asks that the clerk distribute the decision to all members of Peterborough city council.”

The board then adjourned its meeting with no further discussion.

After two days of deliberations on the City of Peterborough’s draft 2026 budget, city council has recommended changes that would reduce the all-inclusive rate increase in 2026 to 6.56 per cent, including by deferring several projects and by transferring $3 million of interest income from a special reserve fund.

The all-inclusive rate consists of municipal property tax, education tax, and municipal sanitary sewer surcharge rates. A 6.56 per cent increase would add around $340 in 2026 for a median residential property assessed at $260,000.

Prior to councillors meeting as general committee on Monday and Tuesday (November 17 and 18) to review the budget, the proposed all-inclusive rate increase stood at 7.92 per cent.

The original version of the draft budget presented to councillors on November 3 had a 7.84 per cent increase, but the city’s commissioner of finance and corporate services Richard Freymond noted a reduction of $665,000 in employee benefits costs and an additional $269,000 for the city’s Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund grant reduced the increase to 7.43 per cent.

The all-inclusive rate increased to 7.29 per cent as a result of council’s November 3 decision to award a $1.12 million contract to One City Peterborough to provide low-barrier shelter services in 2026.

During the deliberations on Monday and Tuesday, council made several recommendations to decrease the all-inclusive rate, including by deferring consideration of a $900,000 project for a public washroom at Jackson Park until 2027, deferring consideration of a $375,000 budget for the Coldsprings Growth Area Planning Studies until 2027, and deferring a $25,000 request to convert a washroom space at City Hall into a kitchenette.

The net tax levy requirement has also been reduced by $204,477 to reflect the increased final current value assessments from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

However, the largest decrease to the tax levy requirement by far comes from council’s unanimously supported recommendation to use $3 million from the city’s legacy income retention reserve account in 2026 — resulting in a decrease to the tax levy of 1.32 per cent.

Money in the legacy income retention reserve account comes from interest earned on investments using the proceeds of the sale of assets of Peterborough Distribution Inc. to Hydro One. Council approved the establishment of the fund in 2022 with interest income to be used to fund a portion of the city’s capital program.

While commissioner Freymond said using the reserve for operating costs will not impact the capital program in 2026, Mayor Jeff Leal pointed out that doing so only defers the problems with the city’s budget until 2027.

“In 2027, that’s when the real decisions will have to made,” Mayor Leal said. “There’s fundamental problems, structurally, with the budget of the City of Peterborough. It’s in two areas: it’s on the assessment side — revenue base — and on the operations side. Hopefully, when the report comes back on (city) efficiencies, et cetera, and looking at alternative service delivery models for the City of Peterborough, that’s when the tough decisions will have to be made.”

“This decision to use the interest revenue is a stop-gap measure. It certainly gets us through 2026, I appreciate that, but the tough sledding is down the road in 2027 and beyond, when we really need to put the budget under the microscope and once and for all repair the structural problems we have.”

With the next municipal election scheduled for October 26, 2026, a new council will be dealing with the 2027 budget.

Council also directed that the proposed 2026 police service operating budget of $41,506,841 — representing an increase of 9.8 per cent ($3,704,600) over 2025 — be returned to the police service board for any potential reductions. (The original requested increase of 9.8 per cent has since been reduced to 9.22 per cent to reflect an estimated $220,000 reduction in benefits for police employees.)

Increases in the next tax levy recommended by council include an additional $90,137 in 2026 for the Community Development Program to offset a reduced funding from Peterborough County, an increase of $25,000 for the 2026 individual artists grant program administered by the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), and an increase of $32,000 for the Peterborough Public Library’s collections acquisition fund.

After council’s budget deliberations, the draft 2026 budget reflects a 2.11 per cent increase in the city’s operating budget, a 2.16 per cent increase for infrastructure and capital needs, a 0.53 per cent increase in the sanitary sewer fee, and a 1.76 per cent increase for external agencies that are funded by the city.

The budget includes $434.2 million in spending on municipal services, funded by $198.4 million in municipal property taxes and $235.8 million in revenues including user fees, grants from other governments, recoveries, interest from investments, and service charges

It also includes $139.2 million for capital projects, including the renovation and expansion of two police stations, Lansdowne Street West improvements between Spillsbury Drive and Clonsilla Avenue, wastewater treatment plant revitalization, extending a taxiway at the Peterborough Regional Airport, road paving, purchasing transit buses, and water service distribution infrastructure.

Beyond the 2026 draft budget, council also made several recommendations for future consideration, including giving Ashburnham Memorial Park priority for the next round of city park improvements, that a pedestrian crossing for the Crawford Trail Extension Project from Monaghan Road to Townsend be at the signalized intersection of Monaghan Road and Lansdowne Street, and that staff be directed to bring forward a report to the 2027 budget to explore parking and other revenue opportunities at Riverview Park and Zoo.

The city’s 2026 draft budget is scheduled to be presented to city council for adoption on Monday, December 8, when public delegations will be heard.

The original version of this story has been updated to reflect that the proposed increase to the Peterborough Police Service’s operating budget is 9.22 per cent due to a reduction in employee benefits.