During its general committee meeting on Tuesday night (February 17), Peterborough city council considered two items related to the proposed demolition of much of the historic General Electric (GE) factory complex at 107 Park Street North in downtown Peterborough.

Council endorsed a motion to exclude four buildings that it had previously approved for heritage designation, at the request of BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. which leases the buildings from property owner GE Vernova.

Council also endorsed a generic health and safety plan guideline for the demolition, and deferred an amending motion from councillor Joy Lachica that would require GE Vernova to disclose its full demolition plan, so that councillors have additional time to review the motion.

BWXT raises concerns about heritage designation

Council’s decision to exclude four buildings from heritage designation was in response to notices of objection filed by GE Vernova and BWXT, as well as a subsequent letter to council from BWXT that expressed concern with heritage designation of any BWXT-leased building.

The January 26 letter from BWXT vice president Andy Collyer stated that the proposed heritage designation “carries significant risk to our business and future in the community.”

BWXT, which produces nuclear fuel bundles for the Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) nuclear power industry, currently employs over 400 workers in high-paying skilled manufacturing and engineering positions at its Peterborough facility.

“We want to continue to grow our operations in this community as we have done so for many years,” Collyer wrote in his letter. “However, with a looming heritage designation, we do not feel that this allows us to have flexibility to modify our buildings to meet our growing business needs.”

Last November, city council decided to allow GE Vernova to demolish a large number of vacant buildings at the factory complex with the exception of eight buildings that would receive heritage designation.

Council’s decision to designate buildings 2, 2A, 8A, 21, 24A, 26, 28, and 30 was based on a 154-page heritage impact assessment (HIA) report prepared by ERA Architects Inc. for GE Vernova that indicated these eight buildings would be retained. Buildings 21, 24A, 26, and 28 are all leased from GE Vernova by BWXT.

According to a report to council from Blair Nelson, the city’s commissioner of infrastructure, planning and growth management, city staff consulted with legal counsel for GE Vernova and BWXT after receiving notices of objection from both companies of the city’s intention to designate the eight buildings.

As a result of the consultation, city staff recommended buildings 24A and 28 be excluded from heritage designation as they do not have specific heritage value, and suggested that council might also want to exclude buildings 21 and 26 from heritage designation “should council wish to directly address the concerns raised by BWXT” and “balance the city’s interest in heritage preservation with other interests including the community’s long-term economic sustainability.”

Council votes to remove four GE buildings from heritage designation

At Tuesday night’s general committee meeting, Mayor Jeff Leal put forth an amending motion to exclude buildings 21 and 26 from heritage designation in addition to buildings 24A and 28, noting that he had conversations with BWXT’s vice president of government relations Bill Walker about the company’s request that all four of their leased buildings to be excluded.

“I also had conversations with our MPP (Dave) Smith on this particular matter, in light that the government of Ontario is going to be expanding opportunities for the production of nuclear energy in Ontario,” the mayor said.

“In fact, (Ontario energy) minister (Stephen) Lecce just announced last week that Wesleyville will be the site of a new CANDU development. We also have Westinghouse (Nuclear) here in Peterborough, so we want to make sure that our highly skilled, highly paid jobs remain right here in Peterborough, and we can accomplish that.”

Councillor Alex Bierk noted the council’s earlier decision on heritage designation had been based on GE Vernova’s heritage impact assessment (HIA) report and expressed concern that the issue of the four buildings had not been brought forward during council’s original debate on the matter last fall.

After some additional discussion, council voted 8-1 in favour of the amended motion, with Bierk voting against. Councillor Don Vassiliadis was absent from the meeting, and councillor Matt Crowley had earlier declared an interest on the item and did not participate in the discussion or vote.

Council debates demolition health and safety oversight

Debate on the final item on the general committee agenda — a report from municipal operations commissioner Ilmar Simanovskis that provides a high-level outline of a health and safety approach for the demolition of buildings at the GE Vernova site — consumed almost half of the three-hour meeting.

Last October, council had directed city staff to develop the report in response to community concerns about the demolition given the long history of toxic substances used at the factory complex.

The report outlines which agencies could be involved in the demolition and described their regulatory authority, and includes a guideline document for a community health and safety approach, proposing a “joint oversight table” that would include the city, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), Lakelands Public Health, GE Vernova, the demolition contractor, and an independent environment monitor hired by the city and funded by GE Vernova.

The guideline also describes a number of technical documents that may be required and technical controls during demolition, as well as ongoing public communication including plain-language summaries of technical documents, live data dashboards, public meetings, and a 24/7 hotline and email address

“Although the city has no legislated authority to require the completion of a HASP (health and safety plan) before demolition is started, GE is aware of the city’s request to provide a HASP,” the report states.

“Should GE adopt a HASP approach, it is expected that it will pay all costs for the HASP in addition to any costs that may be required to retain independent third-party oversight of the process and related community consultation and engagement, if required.”

Councillor Bierk calls for stronger city-led health and safety plan

Councillor Bierk, who put forward the original motion for the city staff report, said the report was just “a restatement of the jurisdictional limits we have already debated.”

“That is not what I asked for in this motion, and that is not what council asked for,” he said. “The motion was about the site entirely and its impacts on the surrounding neighbourhood, not solely through the demolition process. The core question was never whether the city can compel GE to submit a plan under the building code. The question was what is this city itself going to do to protect residents from the impacts of this site.”

“We still do not have clarity on whether the city will retain an independent environmental monitor, what contaminants related to the site will be monitored and at what action levels, how residents will be notified of risks, or what happens if site-related impacts occur in the surrounding neighborhood. We don’t even know the extent of the contamination on the site. We know nothing.”

“My concern for this report is simple: it explains jurisdiction, but it does not provide the city’s plan that council requested for this site. I am moving to not defer this, but to refer this back to staff so that council can actually receive that plan with clear deliverables, roles and timelines, and I have a motion which I will submit to the clerk.”

Bierk’s motion requested that staff report back with a “city health and safety plan” for the GE Vernova site that is not limited to the demolition plan itself, referring to the original discussion on the item in October that led to the staff report.

“We had a very thorough debate on this,” he said. “We were sort of stonewalled in the sense that we understood that, with the very specific part of the demolition project, there actually wasn’t much we could impose upon General Electric. But what happened? We had residents show up, we had community members show up, we had people that showed up that worked at GE, all coming to us at council telling us their concerns about that site.”

“While it was clear to me that we couldn’t impose anything on GE through the demolition process, I made a motion that our staff would come back to us with the general health and safety plan for the site and its residents. To me, that was not in this report — this was just a continuation of a debate that we already had, which goes over the jurisdiction, jurisdictional responsibilities, and what we can and can’t do in regards to a demolition.”

“This (new motion) is just reiterating the intent of the original motion, which passed at council, which is for us as a city to take what responsibility we can for the site, even if that just be transparency around the extent of the contaminants and how those contaminants are moving off the site, if at all.”

In response to a question from councillor and meeting chair Andrew Beamer about the impact of Bierk’s motion, Blair Nelson, the city’s commissioner of infrastructure, planning and growth management, said the city could conduct investigative work surrounding the site but that would require funding.

Municipal operations commissioner Ilmar Simanovskis noted that the city has limited ability to impose any requirements on GE Vernova with respect its private property, but could do something related to boulevards surrounding the property.

Much of the remaining debate, including questions to city staff, involved the limitations of what the city can require of GE Vernova as no development is being proposed for the property.

City CAO Jasbir Raina noted that the city has not yet received a demolition permit application from GE Vernova, which would include a demolition plan.

“That’s the time when engagements and the discussions happen,” Raina said, adding that city staff cannot request a demolition plan until an application is received. “We don’t even know if they will do it (the demolition) this year.”

Council then voted on councillor Bierk’s motion to refer the report back to city staff, which was withdrawn after a tie vote of 5-5. Councillors Lachica, Bierk, Crowley, Beamer, and Riel voted in favour and Mayor Leal and councillors Dave Haacke, Lesley Parnell, Kevin Duguay, and Gary Baldwin voting against.

Councillor Lachica’s motion for GE Vernova to disclose demolition plan deferred for a week

Councillor Joy Lachica put forward an amendment to the main motion that council request that GE Vernova disclose its full demolition plan through the city’s chief building official and to all members of municipal council as part of its application for demolition under the Ontario Building Code.

Based on research and expert consultations she had conducted over the past week, Lachica’s motion was lengthy and detailed.

In response to a question to city staff from chair Beamer on the impact of Lachica’s motion, the city’s legislative services commissioner David Potts cautioned that making such a request through the city’s chief building official could create a risk for the city, as the demolition permit application process under the Ontario Building Code precludes the involvement of municipal council or the imposition of conditions by council.

“The practical suggestion is that, if council wants a document from GE Vernova, why does it not just resolve to ask it directly, and don’t impugn the chief building official,” Potts said.

In his comments, Mayor Leal said “the intent of councillor Lachica is a very good one.”

“The gist and the intent of this is very good, and it’s well researched,” he said. “The sentiments I think would be important to everybody in this community, but we’ve got to make sure of the process that we employ to get to the end point of our destination here.”

Due to the length and detail of councillor Lachica’s motion, councillor Baldwin put forward a motion to defer consideration of the motion to give councillors time to review the motion before voting on it at the regular city council meeting until the following Monday.

In response to the concern raised by commissioner Potts, Mayor Leal suggested that Lachica’s motion could be adjusted so that the request to GE Vernova come from municipal operations commissioner Ilmar Simanovskis rather than the city’s chief building official.

“That’s why I’m going to support councillor Baldwin’s (motion to defer), because then we could have a week to mull this over,” the mayor said, referring to councillor Lachica’s motion. “The sentiment, and what the end goal is, I think is very legitimate, but we’ve got to make sure we get it right or we could expose ourselves on something else here that we don’t want to do, and that could be the unintended consequences of not spending the week to get this kind of clarity.”

Council voted on councillor Baldwin’s motion, which carried 8-2, with councillors Lachica and Bierk voting against the deferral.

Councillor Bierk suggested an amendment to the main motion to receive the city staff report, asking GE Vernova to disclose its demolition plan to council. Chair Beamer did not accept the amending motion, as councillor Lachica’s motion already made that request and council had just voted to defer it.

Council then voted on the main motion to receive the city staff report, which carried 9-1, with councillor Lachica voting against.

Items endorsed by general committee will be considered by council for final approval next Monday (February 23), when registered delegations will be allowed to speak.

When Tiffany Arcari organized a last-minute International Women’s Day (IWD) event in 2024 in just eight days, she didn’t imagine she would be doing it again the following year — and have women lined up down the block for it.

“Now I feel like I have to keep doing this because there’s just nothing like it,” Arcari says. “I like the way that it makes people feel, the impact it has on the community, and how it recognizes the business community for the role that they play in our lives in Peterborough and The Kawarthas.”

That’s why the creator and host of The Tiffany Show on Cogeco YourTV Peterborough/Lindsay is now preparing for The Tiffany Show’s IWD Party 2026, her third annual community-driven celebration of women on Sunday, March 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Venue in downtown Peterborough. To join the party, register for a free ticket at www.thetiffanyshow.ca/iwd2026.

“Bringing women together to sit down and share authentically who we are, the challenges we have, and the things that we walk through really reminds us that we’re not alone,” says Arcari.

“With the state of the world and the state of communities, it’s more important now than ever to be creating these spaces for people. The people that are in that room — and some are men, too — don’t all see eye to eye. Not everybody is on the same political side, but we can see beyond those things and realize that core values, community kindness, taking care of each other, communication, sharing, and fostering relationships really does build a stronger community.”

Arcari recognizes her party is not what she calls the “stereotypical” International Women’s Day event that features keynote speakers and conversations about policies and politics, but she makes no apologies for it.

“My focus is to shut that off and get back to the basics of connection,” she says. “Now that we see AI rising and rising and rising, this need for human connection is going to be stronger and stronger and stronger. We need it for community to survive, to take care of each other, to thrive, to build — it affects everything.”

For her IWD event, Arcari has invited local female powerhouses who are “relatable” and will share educational information and powerful stories of overcoming challenges.

Speaking to everything from women’s health to impactful life lessons, the storytellers include naturopathic practitioner Dr. Richa Grover, real estate agent Sarah Evans, Gauvreau Accounting Tax Law Advisory customer service agent Caryn Mattless, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Peterborough executive director Zoe King.

“These four women all have very different stories, but it’s all going to resonate with somebody in your life and my life,” says Arcari. “They’re not all celebrities and they don’t need to be, because we need to hear stories from women like me and you so we know that if she went through it, we can do it too.”

Though they will be gaining inspiration from these local women, attendees will also be encouraged to shower themselves with love through the return of the Self-Love Mirror, where women will be invited to the front of the room to turn their back to the crowd, look only at their reflection, and say what they love most about themselves.

“It brings out something so vulnerable and special,” says Arcari. “I think because I get them to turn away from the audience, they almost feel like it’s an individual moment between me and them. It’s powerful (for them), and it’s emotional for me too in that moment.”

There will be no escaping the positivity at this party, either. Even the bathroom mirrors will be decorated with sticky notes that remind attendees just how beautiful, strong, and resilient they are.

Women will be encouraged to take a note and leave a note. Last year, the mirror was covered with notes and Arcari even received photos of the women taking the sticky notes with them to create their own affirmation mirror at home.

“Sometimes we get in front of the mirror, and we get so lost in picking ourselves apart physically,” Arcari says. “But when we look in that mirror, we need to ask ourselves, ‘Would you talk to your best friend like that?’ I think everybody needs reminders (to love themselves).”

The event will also see the return of the Self-Love Club Experience Zone, where local businesses will be serving up pampering experience including mini-facials, massages, polish applications, and more.

“If I have an opportunity to feature a business, one hundred per cent I will do it because I genuinely believe that business is the backbone of community,” Arcari says. “They are the ones sponsoring not-for-profits and charitable organizations and soccer teams and The Tiffany Show and this International Women’s Day event.”

Spin wheels, giveaways, swag bags, a cash bar, light snacks, and plenty of other surprises will add to the party. And you just might want to make sure you’re following participating local businesses on social media, because there will be giveaways for those spreading the love.

“The businesses are so heart-lead in their own leadership and that’s why they back this up,” says Arcari. “They all deeply care about community and see how these relationships strengthen community and bring us close closer together.”

VIDEO: The Tiffany Show’s IWD Party 2026

While Arcari may not have known back in 2024 she would still be hosting an International Women’s Day Party each year, it’s clear she’s doing what she’s meant to do.

“This is my own superpower that I can deploy to make things better and to make things less heavy, so we can chase a little joy,” she says. “These women that are going to show up and be celebrated and spoiled have shown up for me in so many different ways through the last 21 years of being in Peterborough.”

For more information about The Tiffany Show’s IWD Party 2026 and to register for a free ticket, visit www.thetiffanyshow.ca/iwd2026.

As Alto moves forward with Canada’s first-ever high-speed rail network between Toronto and Quebec City, including a stop in Peterborough, the Crown corporation is committed to connecting with residents, listening closely to questions and concerns, and ensuring perspectives from Peterborough and communities across The Kawarthas inform every stage of planning.

That’s why Alto has launched an initial three-month public consultation process that includes a drop-in open house in Peterborough on Thursday, February 26 between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the McDonnel Street Community Centre at 577 McDonnel Street.

Meaningful community engagement

“This phase of Alto’s consultation is centred on engagement with the general public within the communities both around station stops and throughout the corridor, including a concentrated focus on engagement with Indigenous communities,” says Alto spokesperson Crystal Jongeward, adding that public consultations are “foundational to the project.”

Over the last two years, Alto’s community engagement efforts have included reaching out to governments, municipalities, public institutions, and Indigenous communities across the corridor in Ontario and Quebec, as well as offering delegations to elected officials, including to the municipal councils of the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, and the City of Kawartha Lakes.

As for the initial three-month public consultation period that began on January 21, Jongeward calls it the “single largest public engagement undertaking” to date for the project. More than 20 open house sessions are planned in communities along the corridor between January and March, in addition to eight virtual meetings and a dedicated online information portal.

Alto’s first two open houses, held in Ottawa and Montreal on January 21 and 22, collectively saw more than 1,000 attendees.

What high-speed rail means for the future of Peterborough and The Kawarthas

Peterborough is one of seven stops along the corridor for the high-speed rail project, which is the largest public infrastructure project in Canada in recent history. When completed, the project will see trains reaching 300 km/h or more on an electrified rail network spanning around 1,000 kilometres between Toronto and Quebec City.

Locally, the transformational investment will not only make it possible to travel between Toronto and Peterborough in just 40 minutes, offering greater flexibility and quality of life for students and working professionals, but it will also boost economic prosperity in Peterborough and communities throughout The Kawarthas.

“We see the project as being an impetus for stimulating economic activity through the enhanced connectivity that Peterborough will have to a number of major economic hubs like Toronto, Ottawa, and Montréal,” Jongeward explains.

While the project will drive economic growth by slashing travel times, enhancing connectivity, and creating job opportunities for all communities along the corridor, Jongeward notes it will also have a transformative impact on the visitor economy of Peterborough and The Kawarthas.

“With Algonquin Park nearby, hundreds of lakes, the whole Trent-Severn Waterway system, and everything going on in Peterborough from the Canadian Canoe Museum to Musicfest, high-speed rail means tourists will be able to access all these things with a much smaller time commitment than with the travel options we have today,” Jongeward says.

“When we think about tourism, especially in the summer, it’s a really attractive option for people who are visiting Toronto to hop on the train and go to cottage country in the Kawarthas in just 40 minutes on Alto. It means a lot for the economic impact on coffee shops, restaurants, and all the different spots people visit when they’re in a new city or town.”

What to expect at the February 26 open house in Peterborough

At the Peterborough open house on February 26, there will be a variety of booths set up to share stories of how high-speed rail will revolutionize mobility and quality of life across communities along the corridor.

Alto’s community engagement team will be available at the open house to share why high-speed rail is a ground-breaking project for Canada, what the project timeline looks like, how the trains will work, and how they will transform mobility between Toronto and Quebec City. Community members will also be able to meet experts from the Alto team who can speak to engineering, design, environmental consultations, and more.

Coffee and snacks will be available at the open house, as well as a supervised play area where parents can keep their children busy so they can focus on asking their questions and joining in on the conversations.

“We’re interested in discussing things like what connectivity means to the community,” says Jongeward. “For Peterborough, this means station locations and interconnectivity with local transit, and the route in and route out. None of that is decided, and a lot of community input that we gather will help inform those decisions as we go through the next three months of this public engagement.”

Alto team members will be taking notes on every conversation with community members and, when leaving the open house, attendees will have the option of completing an exit poll and also have further opportunities to share their feedback on Alto’s dedicated public engagement platform.

More options to provide your feedback

For those unable to attend the open house, Alto will also be hosting eight virtual sessions throughout the public engagement period. Upcoming virtual sessions will take place at noon on Friday, February 20 and at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 23, Tuesday, March 3, and Tuesday, March 17.

In addition to the open houses and virtual sessions, community members can also visit Alto’s online portal until March 29 to complete a survey, provide feedback on an interactive map, and submit a brief.

“All input will help us shape the rail network’s alignment, which will then be refined into a proposed alignment,” says Jongeward. “All ideas are welcome.”

What’s next?

Alto will aggregate all the feedback collected during the public consultation process and present it to the public this summer. A second round of public consultations will be held at a later time to review and refine the proposed rail alignment.

While Alto has confirmed that the Ottawa-Montreal corridor will be the first segment of the high-speed rail network, with construction set to begin at the end of the decade, the project is still in the development and pre-construction phase. Public consultations are an important milestone of this phase, providing local communities with the opportunity to help shape the project in partnership with Alto.

“Community input and feedback is key to this project because Alto is for Canadians by Canadians — it needs to reflect the communities that it’s serving from end to end,” Jongeward says. “We really look forward to seeing the people of Peterborough and the surrounding communities on February 26.”

For more information on Alto’s public consultation process, visit www.altotrain.ca/en/public-consultation. To stay informed about upcoming milestones and additional opportunities to engage, sign up for Alto’s monthly newsletter at www.altotrain.ca/en/stay-updated.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with Alto. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.

Whether you have the voice of Aretha Franklin or only sing to yourself in the shower, Big Sing Nogojiwanong-Peterborough wants you to belt it out alongside the rest of the community.

“The beautiful part about group singing, especially with all these different ages, different levels of ability, and different approaches to music, is that we can always make it work,” says organizer Anna Eidt. “We can all come together and carry each other.”

Described by Eidt as “a space for everyone intentionally infused with a high dose of queer, sparkly joy,” Big Sing Nogojiwanong-Peterborough is a volunteer-run initiative that invites community members to gather for one-off group choir events to sing favourite pop and musical theatre songs.

“I was raised in a very traditional Western choral scene, and I was feeling like that wasn’t quite the thing that I needed right now,” said Eidt, who put the first call-out to find interested volunteers to launch the initiative.

“I was hearing from other people as well that they really wanted to sing, but that they didn’t necessarily have the time or the energy or the desire to do a weekly rehearsal. They wanted to do things that were fun, relieving stress, and helping them have a sense of community.”

Eidt notes that Big Sing has not reinvented the wheel, but rather takes inspiration from other group choirs.

“Choir! Choir! Choir! for instance was a major inspiration because they get together and learn one song and have fun and belt it out,” says Eidt. “There are groups doing this all over the world now. This more informal choral or focus on pop music and musical theatre is a thing that is happening. I thought that would work for me and a lot of people around here who are feeling like they need that opportunity to sing, but that the traditional format is not quite right at this time.”

When Anishnaabe Kwe musician and educator Mshkiki Gitigaan received Eidt’s call out, she was excited for the opportunity to meet new people and come together in song in a “low-pressure environment.”

“There’s some power in our voices coming together,” Gitigaan says. “There’s a part of us that we don’t really touch very often. Having our voices come together really touches that biofield and triggers some healing in our bodies. It manifests physically to relieve that weight we’ve been carrying on our shoulders — spiritually, emotionally, and mentally.”

Eidt agrees, explaining some of the benefits of collective singing.

“Studies have shown that when people sing together regularly, their immunity improves, their sense of identity is stronger, their sense of belonging is stronger, their heart health improves. There’s a reason that every culture in human history has had these opportunities to come together and sing and include everyone in the community: because it’s absolutely essential to our wellbeing.”

According to Eidt, Big Sing will “bridge the gap” between people who read music and those who learn best by listening. Community members who show up at an event will be given a lyric sheet that is colour-coded to divide singing parts. There is a lot of repetition involved so participants can become familiar with the music.

“If you show up and you don’t know the song or you don’t know how to read music, you’ve got the lyrics in front of you, you’re probably surrounded by a couple of powerhouses, and so you can really just go with the flow and jump in as you feel able,” says Eidt.

Last summer, Big Sing hosted two events at the Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre at Trent University’s Traill College. Upwards of 60 people, inclusive of kids, teenagers, and adults, showed up to sing Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” at the first event and Queen’s “Under Pressure” at the second.

AUDIO: “Defying Gravity” (from original “Wicked” 2003 Broadway production)

Gitigaan has also brought her drum out to lead the singers in a traditional water song, which a lot of participants had already been familiar with.

“That’s a lot more of just listening by ear and following along until you get it and then belting it out,” says Gitigaan of the water song and drum. “Including that heartbeat of Mother Earth is really important to me. I make sure that there’s some shakers available so folks can also join in on that sound. It’s really easy going and folks can take away some of that medicine with them and just incorporate other ways of seeing the world and other ways of singing together.”

Big Sing is hosting its next event on Friday, March 6 during Peterborough’s First Friday Art Crawl to sing “Defying Gravity” from the 2003 stage musical Wicked, made famous by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s Grammy award-winning performance of the song in the 2024 film version.

Though it might seem a challenging song, the youth choir from the Peterborough Children’s Chorus will also be there to offer support.

“There’s some pretty fantastic and relevant message in that song and in that musical that I think are relevant to our core values, and it has stood the test of time,” says Eidt. “It’s having a moment right now, which helps our cause, but some of us have been singing this song since we were kids.”

Whether you’ve been singing “Defying Gravity” all your life or have never heard the song before, there’s a place for you at Big Sing.

“Just show up as best as you can be and fake it ’til you make it,” encourages Gitigaan. “Even if you’ve never even heard the song, just pretend like you do because we repeat and repeat. We’re not together for a very long time, but by the end of it, we all sound amazing — even folks who’ve never done this type of thing before. It’s a really magical experience.”

To make a donation to Big Sing or to ask questions about accessibility, email Eidt at annaeidt@gmail.com. You can also keep up to date with Big Sing Nogojiwanong-Peterborough @bigsingnogojiwanong on Instagram.

Big Sing Nogojiwanong-Peterborough received a grant from the United Way Peterborough & District’s 2025 Neighbourhood Fund, which supports grassroots community-led initiatives that foster connection, inclusion, and belonging.